BATON ROUGE – The three-time defending SEC Western Division champion LSU soccer team kicked off its spring exhibition season on Wednesday with a dominating 5-0 win over in-state rival Northwestern State in a match held in the friendly confines of the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers are well into their preparation for the 2010 campaign this fall after claiming their third-straight SEC West championship and third-straight at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament during the 2009 season. LSU finished the season with a 15-4-5 overall record and a school record 8-2-1 mark in SEC play.
Rising junior Kellie Murphy got the ball rolling for the Tigers in the second minute of action with her first of two goals on the night as she buried a header off a brilliant corner kick by senior Courtney Alexander.
After taking a commanding 3-0 lead into the halftime break, Alexander put the game well out of reach in the 65th minute with a class strike from 30 yards to the top-left corner that found the back of the net past a diving Northwestern State goalkeeper. Alexander finished with one goal and two assists for the match.
Murphy provided the final margin with an unassisted goal in the 85th minute of play as she buried a strike from the top of the penalty box with the keeper charging.
“I thought this was a good start for us this spring. Many of our young players had the chance to play quite a lot of minutes for us tonight, and I thought they played well overall,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “I think that is an important step as we go forward this spring. We’ll have another chance to compete a week from now, and it’s important for us to take advantage of every opportunity we have to improve.”
The Tigers finished the contest with a dominating 17-3 advantage in total shots, including a decisive 11-0 margin in shots on goal. They also attempted a total of five corner kicks on the evening while limiting the Demons to just one corner kick in the match. Northwestern State was credited with six saves on the night.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday as they welcome another in-state opponent in Nicholls State to the LSU Soccer Complex for a fixture scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.