DURHAM, N.C. — Despite facing a two-goal deficit at the halftime break, the LSU soccer team led a furious comeback with two goals in the second half to force overtime and earn a 2-2 draw with the Duke Blue Devils in Sunday’s finale at the Duke Nike Classic held at Koskinen Stadium.
The Tigers are now 4-2-2 on the year while the Blue Devils are 4-3-2 and remain unbeaten at home with a 4-0-2 mark in six matches at Koskinen Stadium.
“We faced a real character test at halftime to fight our way back and get a result this afternoon,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “Duke is an excellent team and this is a difficult place for anyone to play. But I am very proud that our girls kept fighting until the very end and of the tremendous character they displayed in the second half. I also thought the team really stepped it up in the absence of Melissa Clarke.”
After taking a 2-0 deficit into the halftime locker room, senior All-American Malorie Rutledge pulled one back for the Tigers in the 48th minute with her fourth goal of the season.
LSU’s pressure paid off in the opening minutes of the second period when Rachel Yepez played a precise through ball to Rutledge running through the middle of the Duke defense. Rutledge broke free of the Blue Devil back line and ran onto the pass before finishing the breakaway with a strike just inside the right post from 12 yards directly in front of the goal.
The Tigers then drew level in the closing minutes of regulation when junior defender Courtney Alexander fired a cross into the middle of the area that was redirected into the back of the net by a Duke defender for an own goal. The equalizer came with just 5:56 remaining on the clock.
LSU sophomore goalkeeper Mo Isom set a new career high with 10 saves on the day, including a brilliant diving save to her right on a point-blank shot by Duke All-American Elisabeth Redmond from 12 yards in front of the net in the 107th minute of the second overtime period to preserve the draw.
For their performance this weekend, both Rutledge and Alexander were honored as members of the Duke Nike Classic All-Tournament Team as selected by a panel of local media.
Neither team was able to break the deadlock in two 10-minute overtime periods. Duke outshot LSU by an impressive margin of 33-10, including a 12-5 edge in shots on goal. The Tigers attempted 10 corner kicks in the match to eight corner kicks for the Blue Devils.
Senior forward KayAnne Gummersall put the Blue Devils on the board in the 18th minute of play with her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
After drawing a foul inside the midfield stripe, junior defender Gretchen Miller played a perfect free kick into the penalty area to Gummersall standing at the top of the six-yard box near the right post. Gummersall then leaped into the air and flicked a backwards header into the back of the net to give Duke an early 1-0 lead at the 17:08 mark of the first half.
The Blue Devils struck again in the 38th minute when midfielder Marybeth Kreger scored her first goal of the season on a wide-open shot from inside the six-yard box. Freshman Maddy Haller slotted a through ball behind the LSU defense to Kreger running free in the right side of the penalty area.
The start of the match was delayed approximately 45 minutes as Auburn battled No. 1 North Carolina to a scoreless draw in the first game of the day.
“You have to congratulate Auburn for their performance today in getting a result against the defending national champions and unquestioned No. 1 team in the country this season,” Lee said. “It was certainly a big day for the SEC to stand toe-to-toe with two teams that made the Elite Eight last fall and earn a result today. It is big for the conference as we head into the start of SEC play next weekend.”
The Tigers will open up Southeastern Conference play next weekend as they return home to host Georgia on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT and Tennessee on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.