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Tigers Fall to Vanderbilt 2-0

by Robert Quiroga | Communications Student Assistant
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Tigers Fall to Vanderbilt 2-0

Baton Rouge – The LSU soccer team fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 2-0 contest at the LSU Soccer Stadium on Friday, October 30. Vanderbilt went ahead in the 16th minute after Madison Elwell’s inswinging free kick found Leila Azari’s head before the Commodores got their second in the 80th minute, with Olivia Simmons pouncing on a defensive error to score a one-on-one goal. With the loss, LSU falls to 0-4-2, while Vanderbilt moves up to 4-3-0.

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“I thought we had a great start to the match,” head coach Sian Hudson said. “We had good opportunities early on that we weren’t able to convert, and were punished when we conceded the goal. We’ll take the positives and look to get back on track for our next match on Monday afternoon.”

The Tigers had a fast start to the match with sophomore Rammie Noel’s shot from 18 yards out requiring a save from Commodore goalkeeper Sarah Fuller just 27 seconds into the match. Junior Meghan Johnson registered the second shot of the evening in the third minute when her effort from long range called Fuller into action once again.

Vanderbilt scored the first goal of the match in the 16th minute from a set piece. Elwell’s free kick from outside the box was swung in to the near post, where Azari’s header from seven yards out beat goalkeeper Mollee Swift to her left.

Swift registered her first save of the night in the 26th minute, parrying away a corner that was goal-bound. Swift’s second and final save of the match came in the 55th minute when she denied a shot by Vanderbilt’s Amber Nguyen with her trailing leg to keep the score line at 1-0. Swift’s two saves in the contest takes her season total up to 20.


The Tigers chased for an equalizer in the second half. In the 69th minute, junior Wasila Diwura-Soale’s pinpoint pass found redshirt junior Tinaya Alexander in the box, who cut inside to beat a defender before her shot on goal was blocked by a Vanderbilt centerback. Junior Shannon Cooke’s through ball in the 74th minute found Alexander, who couldn’t get a direct strike on it and had the shot go above the goal.

The Commodores grabbed their second of the night in the 80th minute. Simmons pounced on a heavy touch by an LSU defender to put herself through into a one-on-one position and converted the shot from 14 yards out to extend the lead to 2-0.

The final chance of the evening came in the 84th minute, when junior Reese Moffatt laid off a free-kick on the edge of the box to Cooke, who fired a shot across goal that narrowly trickled wide of the post.

Up next 

LSU will host its final home match of the regular season when they host Auburn at 2 p.m. CT on Monday, November 2.