AUBURN, Ala. – While senior midfielder Natalie Martineau scored her fourth goal of the season for the Tigers in the 76th minute of action, a second-half comeback by the 18th-ranked LSU soccer team fell short as it suffered its first defeat to SEC West rival Auburn for the first time in more than four years with a 3-1 setback on Friday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
LSU (10-5-1, 5-2 SEC) suffered its first defeat to Auburn (10-4-1, 4-3) since a 2-0 shutout here in Auburn on Oct. 12, 2007, after entering the match with a four-game winning streak and five-game unbeaten streak in the series. The Tigers had been 4-0-1 in five matches since its last defeat to their division rival.
The loss also dropped LSU into a three-way tie for second place on the SEC table with Georgia and South Carolina as each team has secured 15 points from seven league matches.
With a 2-0 shutout at Ole Miss on Friday night, the Florida Gators have taken over sole possession of first place in the SEC standings with 18 points at 6-1 in league play.
“On the night, Auburn deserved to win the game and take three points,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “They passed the ball very well tonight and really opened it up when they had the opportunity. They were good going forward and did a great job of finishing the chances they created during the match.”
Midfielder Ana Cate broke the ice for Auburn in the 26th minute of the match by scoring her team-leading eighth goal of the season with a composed strike from about 10 yards in front of the net.
Following a throw in by Auburn from the left side, striker Tatiana Coleman took possession outside of the area and made a nice run to the end line while drawing two LSU defenders over to cover. That’s when the freshman centered a pass to Cate open in the middle of the area for the finish. Cate trapped it and fired her strike from about 10 yards out inside the left post for the 1-0 lead at the 25:35 mark.
With less than six minutes played in the second half, senior midfielder Taryne Boudreau nearly scored the equalizer for LSU as a cracker from distance was kept out of the net by a leaping Amy Howard in goal for Auburn. Howard’s deflection was redirected off the crossbar and out of play in the 51st minute.
Cate then created Auburn’s second goal of the night in the 62nd minute of play as she served a cross to the far post while streaking down the right side of the field. Cate’s service found Tori Ball standing by herself in the six-yard box near the left post as she extended Auburn’s lead to 2-0 at the 61:06 mark.
Martineau breathed life back into the Tigers with her fourth goal of the season in the 76th minute of action in a sequence reminiscent of her two-goal performance in a 2-0 shutout of Kentucky on Sunday.
After junior striker Carlie Banks found redshirt freshman striker Kaley Blades running through the middle of the Auburn defense, Blades then played a diagonal ball through the back line to Martineau running free in the right side of the penalty area. Martineau took a touch and fired a strike on goal from about 10 yards that found the net inside the left post to cut Auburn’s lead to 2-1 with just 14:09 to play in the game.
But Auburn All-American Katy Frierson put the game away less than four minutes later as she scored her fourth goal of the season in the 80th minute with an open 10-yard strike for the final 3-1 score line.
In one of the more unusual lines on the stat sheet, LSU was called for 11 fouls in the first half to only one foul called against Auburn. It then turned completely in the other direction in the second half with Auburn being called for six fouls to just one foul against LSU in the frame.
“With that many fouls being called in the first half, we were forced to defend a lot of free kicks in our end and had difficulty turning the field. Auburn is exceptional on set pieces with Katy Frierson and Julie King making such a big impact,” Lee said. “That kind of foul disparity isn’t characteristic of LSU Soccer. I was pleased with the way we were defending for much of the game.”
The Tigers wrap up their four-game SEC road swing on Sunday afternoon with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play the Alabama Crimson Tide in another SEC West derby scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. CDT at the Alabama Soccer Stadium. Alabama pitched a 3-0 shutout of Arkansas at home on Friday night.