BATON ROUGE – After kickoff of Sunday’s home finale was delayed due to heavy rains on campus, sophomore striker Jorian Baucom canceled out a third-minute opener from the visitors with her team-best 13th goal of the season in the 25th minute of play as the Tigers battled 17th-ranked South Carolina to a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes of action.
Game officials elected to move the match to LSU’s practice field adjacent to the LSU Soccer Stadium when it was deemed that the game field was unplayable due to flooding throughout the surface.
Sunday’s match was called for full time after 90 minutes and before the playing of extra time due to the deterioration of the playing surface on the practice field as the Tigers (10-4-4, 4-4-2 SEC) and Gamecocks (11-4-2, 5-3-2) each found the net in the first half. The sides held their SEC position entering the match as the Gamecocks remained sixth on 17 points and the Tigers held onto seventh on 14 points in league play.
A view from command central for today’s game on the practice field! We will kick off when the teams are ready. pic.twitter.com/LcLTkriOL5
— LSU Soccer (@LSUSoccer) October 25, 2015
“It’s a well-earned point for our team under challenging circumstances today. I thought the officials and our game management people did a phenomenal job in getting the game in under these conditions today,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “I thought our players prepared themselves well and showed great mental toughness to get a result like that today.”
Senior forward Raina Johnson gave the visitors the early 1-0 advantage just three minutes from the opening kick when she pounced on a loose ball and buried the rebound from six yards when LSU goalkeeper Catalina Rubiano was unable to maintain possession in the driving rain following a cross into the box from the right side.
The Tigers struck back through Baucom in the 25th minute as the sophomore from Scottsdale, Arizona, bagged her team-leading 13th goal for the season with a clinical finish on the breakaway after being played through the Gamecock defense by freshman teammate Gabriela Maldonado. Maldonado gathered possession in the center circle after a defensive header by the Gamecocks and picked out Baucom running into space around the top of the penalty area for a clinical right-footed finish inside the left post.
Baucom again found herself in position to give the Tigers their first lead of the match early in the second half in the 47th minute with a one-time strike on frame in space from eight yards, but a strong left hand by South Carolina goalkeeper Caroline Kelly diving to her left was redirected out of play for one of LSU’s seven corner kicks during the contest. Baucom finished with six shots and three shots on target in the match.
Freshman defender Alex Thomas then rose to meet the ensuing corner kick taken by senior midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco, but her header just missed the side netting inside the right post from six yards out.
The Tigers outshot the Gamecocks by a 5-0 count in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, but were unable to find the go-ahead goal as South Carolina slowly came back into the match in the final stages. Each side finished the match with 11 shot attempts and three shots on goal in the 90 minutes, while the Gamecocks held a narrow 9-7 edge in corner kicks on the afternoon.
With the result, the Tigers extended their unbeaten streak in SEC play to three-straight games following a pair of 1-0 wins at Arkansas on Oct. 15 and against Mississippi State at home on Friday night. They also ended a home schedule unbeaten for just the second time in team history while extending their unbeaten run to 12-straight matches with an 8-0-4 mark at the LSU Soccer Stadium in 2015.
LSU was last unbeaten at home over the course of the season in 2007 when they posted a 5-0-3 mark in eight matches played in Baton Rouge en route to their first ever NCAA Tournament berth.
Sunday saw 10 seniors make their final appearance in the purple and gold at the LSU Soccer Stadium for their careers as Gomez-Junco and Rubiano joined fellow seniors Alex Arlitt, Gracie Campbell, Lexi Gibbs, Heather Magee, Mariel McLaughlin, Emma Meckfessel, Fernanda Pina and Morgan Ruhl in Senior Day festivities after the match.
“What a great job our seniors have done this season in giving this team the leadership it needs to be in this kind of position where we still have so much to play for down the stretch,” Lee added. “They’ve worked very hard with our other players for the last 10 months or so to have a great season, and we certainly have every opportunity to do that in the coming weeks.”
The Tigers will next travel to Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday night to wrap up their 2015 regular season with a match against Kentucky that is set to kick off at 5:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+. LSU will look to earn a win or a draw that would lock up and SEC Tournament berth the following week as the event returns to the Orang Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama, from Nov. 2-8.
Final: Tigers (10-4-4, 4-4-2 SEC) play @GamecockWSoccer (11-4-2, 5-3-2) to a 1-1 draw! Game called after 90 minutes. pic.twitter.com/cJ8u84b8sO
— LSU Soccer (@LSUSoccer) October 25, 2015