BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team kicked off the 2007 season Friday night with a bang as it dominated the Southern Miss Golden Eagles by the score of 3-0 in front of a new record crowd of 1,828 at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers (1-0) overwhelmed the Golden Eagles (0-1) on the offensive end throughout the contest and earned its first win in a season opener since shutting out in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana by a 3-0 margin in 2004. LSU is now 9-4 all-time in season opening matches.
“I’m very pleased with the way the team played tonight considering it was our season opener,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “This was a great starting point for our club. The midfield was outstanding moving the ball forward, and I thought we were really creative in the attacking third. Our back line also played well in limiting their chances to score.”
Sophomore standout Malorie Rutledge got the ball rolling for the Tigers in the 14th minute with her first goal of the season as she collected a pass in the right side of the penalty area from fellow sophomore Lindsay Lum and snuck a shot inside the far post from 10 yards out.
Rutledge helped lead LSU’s offensive onslaught with a team-high four shots and two shots on goal on the night. The native of Sharpsburg, Ga., is poised for a breakout season for the Tigers after being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team a year ago.
“Tonight’s outcome was the result of 10 months of hard work by this team,” Rutledge said. “We came out tonight focused on what we needed to do and played a great game. We’ve trained hard since the end of last season, and it was important for our team to come out and play the way we know we’re capable of playing. I think we did that tonight.”
Sophomore Melissa Clarke showed no ill effects of her season-ending knee injury suffered a year ago as she put the Tigers on top 2-0 in the 24th minute of play with her first goal of the season.
Clarke, who was forced to miss the final 14 games of the 2006 season after tearing the lateral collateral ligament in her right knee against Villanova on Sept. 10, received a through ball off the foot of sophomore Michelle Makasini in the penalty area and blasted a shot into the back of the net from inside the six-yard box.
“The knee feels really good right now,” Clarke said. “I’ve worked hard to get myself back into form after what happened last year. It was really hard for me to watch from the sideline, so I was excited to get back on the field tonight. I’m happy with the way I played in my first game back and the team getting a big win to start the season.”
Makasini added the final tally of the game in the 65th minute after being left wide open at the top of the box and ripping a shot past a diving Southern Miss keeper.
The Tigers dominated play on the offensive end of the field as they finished the match with 25 total shots to just one for the Golden Eagles, while they also had 10 shots on goal and took eight corner kicks on the night. Senior Valerie Vogler moved into sole possession of third place on the school’s all-time list with her seventh career shutout.
“This was a great first game, but there are still a lot of things we need to work on,” Lee said. “One thing that stood out tonight is that we need to develop a finishing touch in scoring goals. We failed to convert on a number of chances that’ll be crucial as we move into conference play.”
The Tigers rolled to victory in front of a lively crowd of 1,828 fans, shattering the previous all-time attendance record of 1,689 against SEC Western Division rival Ole Miss on Sept. 30, 2005.
“We have the best fans in the country, and this was an incredible atmosphere for a college soccer game,” Lee said. “The crowd was tremendous the entire game and really helped our team play with energy for 90 minutes. They had a chance to see some great soccer, and we appreciate every single one of them for their support. We look forward to them coming back on Sunday.”
The Tigers look to extend their unbeaten streak to four games when they return to the field on Sunday to take on in-state rival Louisiana Tech at 1:30 p.m. CDT. The match is scheduled for a live TV broadcast by Cox Sports Television.