BATON ROUGE — Sophomore forward Roslyn Jones continues to prove her worth as one of the top scoring threats in the SEC as she scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner in the 28th minute, to lead the LSU soccer team to a 4-2 win over Alabama on Sunday.
Jones gave the Tigers an early 1-0 lead in the 15th minute with a chip shot from 12 yards out after collecting a pass from freshman Michelle Makasini in stride and breaking away from a pair Crimson Tide defenders near the top of the box. She scored the Tigers’ third goal of the match with a 10-yard strike in the right side of the box in the 28th minute of the first half.
Jones is the team’s leading scorer in Southeastern Conference play as she has scored five goals and recorded 12 points in eight SEC matches and trails only Makasini for the overall team lead with eight goals and 19 points on the season.
“We needed someone to work hard up top this year and put some balls away for us, and (head coach) Brian (Lee) felt like I could do that for the team,” Jones said. “It’s a lot of fun playing up top. I was happy to step up and play a different position than I did last year, and it’s worked out well for us this year.”
Freshman Rachel Yepez pushed LSU’s lead to 2-0 in the 18th minute with her fifth goal of the season as she punched in a one-timer from inside the six-yard box on a service by Makasini over the Alabama defense. Makasini continues to lead the SEC in scoring as she has recorded a total of 27 points on the season.
“We have several great finishers on this team, and Rachel and Mak are certainly two of those,” Lee said. “Michelle just has an uncanny ability to create scoring chances for her teammates as much as scoring goals herself. She’s a complete attacking player and proved that with two great assists today and another one on Friday night.”
Freshman Malorie Rutledge added the Tigers’ fourth and final goal of the match by converting a penalty kick in the 84th minute after junior Caroline Vanderpool was fouled just inside the top of the penalty box. The Tigers held the advantage on the offensive end as they outshot the Crimson Tide by the count of 23-8 and finished the match with 11 shots on goal and five corner kicks.
This marks just the second time that LSU (8-7-2, 3-3-2 SEC) has beaten Alabama (5-11-0, 1-7-0 SEC) in its history as it snapped the Crimson Tide’s four-game winning streak in the series. The Tigers are currently in seventh place in the SEC with 11 points, but are just two points behind Ole Miss for the lead in the Western Division and three points out of second place overall.
The Tigers return to action next weekend as they travel to Columbia, S.C., on Friday to battle Eastern Division rival South Carolina in a match scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT. They follow with a home match against 17th-ranked Florida on Sunday at noon that is scheduled to be televised live by Cox Sports Television.
“This was a huge win for our team today in terms positioning for the SEC Tournament, and we’re going to need at least one more to make it to Orange Beach at the end of the season,” Lee said. “Only three points separate us from being in second place in the conference at this point, and we can take a big step next weekend at South Carolina.”