BATON ROUGE — Sophomore Roslyn Jones and freshman Michelle Makasini led a scoring barrage with two goals apiece as the LSU soccer team dominated in-state rival Northwestern State on Tuesday by the score of 9-1 at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers are now 2-2 on the spring season as they are coming off of a split weekend in which they defeated nationally-ranked Wake Forest by the score of 2-1 on Friday night followed by a 2-0 defeat at the hands of fellow ACC power Duke on Sunday.
“That was a great performance for our team against a program that we have a lot of respect for,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “To play that well against a quality in-state opponent says a lot about the progress that this team has made this spring. We’re in much better shape physically than we have been and are playing very well as a team right now.”
The Tigers scored early and often in a clinical effort against the Demons as Jones got the ball rolling with her first goal in the 10th minute of the first half after receiving a slotted through ball inside the penalty area and ripping a sliding shot past a charging goalkeeper from 10 yards out.
The Mandeville, La., native added her second goal of the night in the 20th minute of the first half as she fired a shot into the back of the net off of a rebound inside the six-yard box to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage in the match. Jones proved to be one of the top scoring threats in the SEC this past season by scoring nine goals and 21 points on the year.
The Tigers took a 4-0 lead into the halftime break as freshman Rachel Yepez added her second goal of the spring in the 21st minute, while fellow freshman Kathleen Walsh tallied her first goal in the 31st minute by ripping a shot inside the far post from the left side of the penalty box. Walsh also added a pair of assist on the night for a total of four points.
Makasini, who was the second-leading scorer in the SEC this past season with a team-high 11 goals and 29 points in the fall, scored both of her goals just six minutes apart in the second half with shots into the back of the net in the 58th and 64th minutes.
The Tigers also received goals from freshman Amanda Carreno in the 53rd minute, sophomore Veronica Godbolt in the 63rd minute and junior Sara Pollock in the 72nd minute. The Demons scored their only goal of the night in the 68th minute before the game was stopped with 11:13 remaining in regulation with the Tigers leading by the final score of 9-1.
LSU is set to wrap up the spring season this weekend as they head to Ridgeland, Miss., on Saturday to take on SEC rival Ole Miss at 4:30 p.m. at the Freedom Ridge Soccer Complex. The match is slated to be the front end of a double header featuring a Major League Soccer contest between the Chicago Fire and Chivas USA.