BATON ROUGE — A hat trick by freshman forward Carlie Banks and a stout defensive performance propelled the LSU soccer team to a dominating 6-0 shutout of No. 8 Georgia in its Southeastern Conference opener Friday night at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers (5-2-2, 1-0-0) notched their largest margin of victory since a 7-0 win last year against Alabama, while it was also LSU’s second-largest margin of victory all-time in SEC play. The Tigers handed Georgia (7-1-1, 0-1-0) suffered its first loss of the 2009 season.
Not only that, but Friday’s victory is LSU’s second all-time against an opponent ranked as one of the Top 10 teams in the nation, including a 3-0 win over No. 6 Tennessee on Oct. 5, 2007.
“This is a great win for our team as we start SEC play. Georgia is a very good team and I’m sure they will be in the hunt for the SEC championship as we get deeper into the conference season,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “I thought we were relentless for the full 90 minutes tonight and really kept up the pressure from the opening kick. I am very proud of our team tonight.
“I feel like the non-conference schedule that we played this year really helped us prepare for this opening weekend of SEC play. Our girls responded in a big way.”
The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board as Banks scored her first collegiate goal in the second minute of the game, firing in a wide-open shot from just inside the six-yard box to put the Tigers on the board with an early 1-0 lead.
A native of Peachtree City, Ga., Banks added her second goal just minutes later when a strike by Malorie Rutledge was deflected by Georgia goalkeeper Michelle Betos right to the feet of the freshman striker. She slipped a sliding shot just inside the left post from near the top of the six to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage in the 18th minute of play.
After taking their 2-0 lead into the halftime break, the Tigers came out firing in the second half as senior forward Rachel Yepez rifled a shot from 12 yards directly in front of the goal inside the right post to put LSU on top 3-0 in the 52nd minute. It was Yepez’s third goal of the season.
Banks then secured the hat track in the 63rd minute by firing an unassisted shot into an wide-open net with the keeper out of position to push the LSU lead to 4-0. Banks’ hat trick was the first by a Tiger since Rutledge did so in LSU’s 7-0 win over Alabama on Oct. 12, 2008.
The scoring continued for LSU in the 84th minute on the second goal of the season by sophomore Taryne Boudreau, while freshman Tricia Johnson scored her first career goal less than a minute later to give the Tigers a dominating 6-0 win over the Bulldogs.
The Tigers outshot the Bulldogs by a 19-6 count in the game, including a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal. Each team attempted four corner kicks on the night.
LSU was dominant on defense throughout the match as sophomore goalkeeper Mo Isom earned a fifth clean sheet on the year and her 12th shutout of her brief collegiate career. She is just four shutouts shy of breaking the LSU career record for shutouts as former Tigers Bonnie Otillio and Valerie Vogler each earned 15 shutouts during their careers.
The Tigers return to the pitch on Sunday at 1 p.m. as they host the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in a match at the LSU Soccer Complex.
“Tonight was an important win for our team and a great way for us to begin SEC play,” Lee said. “But we need to follow this up with another good performance against an outstanding Tennessee team on Sunday. They will come in ready to play and we need to be ready to compete again for a full 90 minutes. Having a good practice tomorrow will be a key for us.”