BATON ROUGE — The 13th-ranked LSU soccer team saw its school record 18-game home unbeaten streak and six-game unbeaten streak in SEC play snapped Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of sixth-ranked Florida at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers (12-3-1, 6-3-1 SEC) head into their final game of the regular season in a first-place tie with Auburn atop the SEC Western Division standings and can clinch their second SEC West title in a row with a win over Arkansas in their home finale on Friday night.
Despite taking a 1-0 lead into the break, the Gators (15-2-1, 10-0-0 SEC) stormed back with a pair of goals in the second half to give LSU its first loss since a 2-1 defeat at Tennessee on Oct. 3.
“I thought we came out and played really well for 90 minutes,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We were good going forward and creating chances. We just didn’t finish enough of them today. Florida has been down several times this year and has come back to win, and they’ve shown good character in that regard all year long. They certainly took advantage when they got open looks.
“Over the course of the game, we had maybe seven or eight really good chances if we would have maybe shown better composure and communicated a little bit better in the box. That’s something we will continue to work on this week as we get ready for another big game on Friday.”
After threatening the Gator defense with a relentless attack early in the contest, the Tigers struck first in the 38th minute of the first half on the eighth goal of the season by junior Rachel Yepez.
Yepez ran past a defender after junior Malorie Rutledge played the ball over the Gators defensive back line and fired a shot inside the right post from 12 yards out in the left side of the penalty area on a breakaway with Florida goalkeeper Meghan Berlingo. With the assist, Rutledge extended her single-season school record with her league-leading 15th of the year.
The Tigers threatened to take a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute, but Berlingo made two saves to deny LSU the opportunity. Rutledge saw a shot from 10 yards out in the right side of the area deflected wide of the goal on a diving save, and after the ball was played back into the box, junior Melissa Clarke attempted a back heel flick from inside the six-yard box that was saved by Berlingo.
LSU’s freshman goalkeeper Mo Isom was up to the challenge on the opposite end as the final seconds ticked away in the first half of play, making a pair of saves of her own on shots by Laura Ray and Ameera Abdullah from inside 10 yards with under 10 seconds to go before the break.
LSU proved to be the better side in the first half of play with the quality of its scoring chances as it held a slight 6-5 advantage in shots and a 2-1 edge in corner kicks in the period.
“I thought we were very good in the attack, especially in the first half,” Lee said. “Rachel did a good job of staying composed and hitting a precise shot for the goal, and I though we kept up the pressure through the break. Who knows what might happen if Melissa gets that back heel through the keeper, but give her a lot of credit for being in great position to make the save.”
Florida wasted no time in scoring the equalizer coming out of the locker room as Abdullah scored her sixth goal of the season just 91 seconds into the second period. Abdullah buried a wide open shot from the top of the six-yard box following a cross from the left wing by Nicky Kit.
Kit then assisted on the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute when she served a left-footed cross to freshman Tahnai Annis on the far post from the left end line, and Annis headed the ball into the back of the net from the far right side of the six-yard box.
The Tigers appeared to tie the score when freshman Kellie Murphy fired a header into the back of the net on a pass from Clarke with just 2:26 to go in regulation, but the goal was disallowed when it was determined Murphy was in an offside position while attempting the shot.
LSU attempted 14 shots and four shots on goal with five corner kicks in the match, while Florida won a 2-1 decision with 12 shots and six shots on goal to go along with three corners kicks.
“It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to tie it up right there, but we took a look at the tape and the linesman got it right by calling offside,” Lee said. “I thought we certainly played well enough for 90 minutes to come away with a result, but it doesn’t always work out that way in this sport. Now we have to come back to practice this week and get ready to get right back at it on Friday night.”
The Tigers welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks to the LSU Soccer Complex on Friday night in the regular season finale for both teams. With a win, LSU would clinch its second straight SEC West championship and lock up the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament set to make its return to Orange Beach, Ala., from Nov. 5-9.