COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sophomore forward Daija Griffin stuffed home a loose ball in the box on a corner kick taken by sophomore teammate Chelsea Drennan in the 75th minute of the second half for the only goal of the match as the LSU Tigers suffered a 1-0 defeat to the 20th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday afternoon at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium.
The Tigers (5-7-2, 1-3-1 SEC) were unable to extend their unbeaten streak in SEC play to three-straight games as they fell to the Gamecocks (9-3-1, 2-2-1) for the third-straight time in the series.
In what proved to be a defensive struggle throughout, the sides played scoreless until Griffin’s breakthrough at the 74:31 mark of the second half when substitute Lauren Jankowski shielded LSU goalkeeper Lily Alfeld from coming off her line to claim Drennan’s corner kick as Griffin pounced on the loose ball and slotted home her first goal of the season.
The Gamecocks first threatened to take the lead from another corner kick just past the hour mark when midfielder Taylor Leach fired a header on frame from eight yards out in the 62nd minute of play that was cleared off the line by LSU’s All-SEC midfielder Emma Fletcher guarding the right post. It was certainly the best opportunity for the home side to take the lead before Griffin’s opener just under 13 minutes later.
Perhaps buoyed by Fletcher’s defensive stand, the Tigers nearly responded straightaway on the other end when Megan Lee‘s curling effort from distance was saved by Gamecock goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo.
With the clock nearing 10 minutes to play in regulation, midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco nearly fired home an equalizer that would have forced extra time as she played a nice give-and-go with Lee at the top of the box and curled a right-footed strike beyond the outstretched arms of a diving D’Angelo and just inches wide of the right post.
Opportunities were hard to come by for either side as the Tigers and Gamecocks combined for just four shots on target on the 20 attempts taken between the two teams over 90 minutes of action at Stone Stadium.
The Tigers are excited to return home on Thursday night for a match against the Alabama Crimson Tide that will kick off at 6:05 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. Thursday marks the only match day for the Tigers next week as they will feature on the SEC Network Game of the Week before heading back on the road for a pair of matches at Tennessee in Knoxville on Friday, Oct. 17, and at Georgia in Athens on Sunday, Oct. 19.