BATON ROUGE – The title of Hoosier Challenge Cup champion will be on the line Sunday at Noon CT when the LSU Tigers and Butler Bulldogs square off against one another for the first time in their history at Varsity Field in Indianapolis after both sides claimed all three points with wins in Friday’s opener at Indiana’s Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The Tigers (2-3) enter the match at the top of the tournament table on goals scored after routing Indiana by a 3-0 margin on Friday afternoon after Butler (3-1-1) scored a 2-1 win over SMU earlier in the day.
Junior All-SEC striker Jorian Baucom and freshman midfielder Caitlin Cantrill both put their names on the scoresheet in LSU’s victory over the tournament hosts on Friday afternoon as Baucom bagged a brace with goals on either side of halftime in the 34th and 50th minutes and Cantrill scored her first career goal in the 44th minute of the first half.
Baucom is now off and running this season as she has scored three goals in her last two appearances after being held scoreless in LSU’s first three matches this season. With two goals against Indiana on Friday, Baucom became LSU’s active career scoring leader with 26 goals in 47 career appearances, surpassing the 24 goals scored by fellow All-SEC striker Summer Clarke after being tied with one another at kickoff.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Brockmeier was also solid in defense for the Tigers as she saved all six shots on target she faced from the Hoosiers on Friday for her second clean sheet of the season.
Like LSU, Butler also competed in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament a year ago after winning the Big East Conference Tournament with a 1-0 win over Providence in the title match. The Bulldogs return nine starters and 20 letterwinners from their team that ended the 2015 campaign with a 16-7-1 overall record and 6-3 mark for fourth place overall in Big East regular-season play.
LSU and Butler have both scored six goals in their five matches this season with their leading scorers both netting three times on the campaign. While the Tigers are led by Baucom’s three goals thus far in 2016, Butler is paced by senior midfielder and Japanese international Serina Kashimoto, who put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard in the sixth minute of their 2-1 win over SMU on Friday.
Sophomore forward Breann Pempek’s second goal of the season in the 48th minute proved to be the game-winner against the Mustangs as Butler picked up its second win on the spin after also shutting out Akron, 2-0, in their previous outing last Sunday. Freshman midfielder Maeve Burger has also found the scoresheet early in her rookie season with one goal.
The Bulldogs have also been stingy in defense while limiting their opponents to just three goals in their five matches as sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Luedtke has posted a 0.62 goals against average this season.
After wrapping up their appearance at this year’s Hoosier Challenge Cup against Butler on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers continue their four-game road swing next week with trips to Western Kentucky on Thursday and Texas A&M on Sunday, Sept. 11, for their SEC opener on the SEC Network. Kickoff against the Big Red is set for 7 p.m. CT followed by a 6 p.m. kickoff against the Aggies in their SEC opener.
Fans can follow all the action during each match during the 2016 season by following @LSUSoccer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsusoccer and Instagram at http://instagram.com/lsusoccer and by liking LSU Soccer on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsusoccer. Fans are also invited to join in the team’s live in-game chat on Facebook throughout Friday’s match.