ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The LSU soccer team put an exclamation point onto the end of a successful spring season on Saturday with a 2-1 win over SEC Western Division rival Auburn at the site of 2009 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
The Tigers, who finished the 2008 season ranked No. 14 nationally in the final Soccer America Top 25 poll, wrap up the spring season with a 4-1-2 mark in exhibition matches.
“I’m proud of our players for the way they competed this spring against some of the best teams in the country, and we look forward to heading into the fall with a bit of momentum,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We enjoyed coming back to Orange Beach this weekend to play in a great game environment that is typical of we see in the series between LSU and Auburn.
“Auburn is a great team, and we have a lot of respect for the program they have. I’m sure we’ll be looking forward to meeting them once again when we kick it off in the fall.”
The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute of play when All-SEC midfielder Melissa Clarke scored her team-leading fourth goal of the spring season with assists coming from Hannah Jobe and Rachel Yepez. Clarke earned her second Second-Team All-SEC honor in 2008.
Senior captain Casey Crawford followed just five minutes later with a goal of her own as she put the ball into the back of the net in the 35th minute with an assist from forward Rachel Yepez. The Tigers then took their 2-0 advantage into the halftime locker room.
Although Auburn pulled one back in the 72nd minute of the second half, the Tigers finished with a big win to push their record to 4-1-2 in seven spring exhibition matches.
The highlight of the spring season is a dominating 3-0 shutout of the reigning Big 12 champions from Oklahoma State as the Tigers routed the Cowgirls in Austin, Texas, back on Feb. 28. Oklahoma State finished the 2008 season ranked No. 7 in the final Soccer America Top 25 of the season. LSU also defeated the likes of Southern Miss and Southeastern Louisiana this spring.
LSU will enter the fall as the two-time defending SEC Western Division champions after earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. The Tigers finished with a 14-4-2 overall record and a school record 7-3-1 mark and No. 2 finish in the SEC standings in 2008.