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Soccer Travels to Face Texas A&M

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Soccer Travels to Face Texas A&M

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU Soccer (8-2-2, 3-1 SEC) is hitting the road to face Texas A&M (6-5-2, 0-4 SEC) in Bryan-College Station for a primetime SEC matchup at 6:00 p.m. CT at Ellis Field. 

The match will be available on SEC Network. Links to watch and live stats for the match can be found on lsusports.net. 

Series History – Texas A&M

The Aggies hold a 13-0 series advantage over the Tigers. The last time the two teams met was in 2021, when LSU lost to Texas A&M, 4-1, in Baton Rouge. The Tigers are looking to secure their first win over the Aggies in Thursday’s match. 

Last Time On The Pitch 

The LSU Tigers earned their third SEC victory this season and defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 3-2 at home in Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon.

The match opened with neither team able to take control and create chances. The Wildcats had the first big chance of the match in the 6th minute as Úlfa Úlfarsdóttir sent a shot on goal from the top of the box, but the shot was easily collected by LSU goalkeeper Mollee Swift.   

Kentucky took a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute as Hannah Richardson took a corner kick, which swung a cross to the back post and found the head of Rhodes and landed in the left side of the goal.  

Only two minutes later, LSU had a free kick in their own half. The ball was lifted into the box, where a Kentucky player’s attempt to clear it saw the referee blow the whistle and award a penalty due to a high kick. Center back Shannon Cooke stepped up for the Tigers and slotted the penalty kick into the bottom-left corner, beating the Wildcat goalkeeper on power. Cooke equalized the match at 1-1 and recorded her first goal of the season.

LSU found its first lead of the match in the 34th minute. Following a strong possession play, forward Mollie Baker sent a through ball on the edge of the box to fellow forward Angelina Thoreson, who then sent a ground cross on a first-time effort to find Sage Glover. Glover sent the shot into the top-right corner and recorded LSU’s second goal of the day to take the 2-1 advantage. 

Glover’s goal was her fourth of the season and first goal in SEC play. Thoreson’s assist increased her team-high total on the year to six while Baker’s assist was her third on the year. 

The Tigers took a 2-1 lead into halftime, but a strong start for Kentucky in the second half saw the Wildcats tie the match at 2-2 in the 48th minute. A cross was sent into the box and the LSU defense was not able to clear the ball. The ball was in the air in front of the goal and was met by the head of Úlfarsdóttir, who beat Swift and placed it in the goal.

The go-ahead goal for the Tigers came in the 58th minute. Defender Lindsi Jennings cleared the ball up to the middle of the pitch. Baker pounced on a loose ball on the Wildcats’ side of the field and carried it into the box to finish a one-on-one chance that landed in the left-corner. The goal gave LSU a 3-2 lead on the day while Baker had her fourth goal of the year and first in SEC play.  

The Tigers held control of the match the rest of the way. Midfielder Jordan Johnson had a shot on goal saved in the 58th minute and Baker tested Miller in the 86th minute with a shot that required goalkeeper intervention. Miller finished the day with three saves. 

For LSU, Swift made calm saves in the 60th and 89th minutes that kept the score line at 3-2 to give the Tigers the victory. Swift finished the match with four saves.

Top Scoring Tigers

Fifth-year senior Alesia Garcia and freshman Ida Hermmansdottir have led the way for the Tigers this season, both sitting at five goals each heading into Sunday’s match against the Wildcats.

Garcia’s first goals of the season came on the team’s road trip in California. The forward tallied her first goal against Pepperdine in the 54th minute. The Waves goalkeeper was unable to control the ball on a deflected shot from Jordan Johnson and Garcia seized the opportunity. She pounced on the loose ball and placed it into the back of the net. The goal was the first of the season for Garcia and the 26th of her collegiate career.

Garcia marked the second straight game she found the back of the net for the Tigers in the next match against San Diego, when she capped the night off in fashion for the Tigers as she scored the fourth goal in the 87th minute to secure the win. Garcia rounded the goalkeeper with a touch to her right-side and was collected enough to place the ball into the open goal.

The Colorado native continued her scoring at Southern Miss. Garcia opened the scoring in the 52nd minute for the Tigers as she sent a rocket into the top-right corner from 19 yards out to take the 1-0 lead in the match. Garcia’s fourth finish came against No. 6 Rutgers on a rebound goal after the Scarlet Knights goalkeeper loosely deflected a shot from Thoreson.

Goal no. 5 of the season and her first in conference play came in the Tigers match against Mississippi State. Defender Rammie Noel sent a cross to the back post and found Garcia, who was unmarked and calmly headed the ball home. The goal was a strong response from the Tigers, who conceded the first goal of the match only 19 seconds prior to Garcia’s goal.

Hermmansdottir found her first collegiate goal in the 33rd minute against San Diego and has been hot since. Her second and third career goals came against Grambling in the 27th and 82nd minutes to earn the first brace of her collegiate career. As the match was all-even at 1-1 in the first half, Hermannsdottir led LSU to a 2-1 lead with a superb long-range effort just three minutes after her teammate Mollie Baker equalized the game. The freshman scored the final goal in the 82nd minute after shrugging off a defender and slotting a ball past the Grambling State goalkeeper.

Hermannsdottir tallied the fourth goal of her career at No. 6 Rutgers, when she intercepted a ball in the final third and hit a right-footed effort that beat the Scarlet Knights’ goalkeeper and landed in the bottom left corner.

Goal number five came in her SEC debut at Vanderbilt as she hit a free-kick from 25 yards out that was powerful enough to beat the diving goalkeeper and land in the bottom-left corner. The goal was the game winner for LSU, who won 2-1 on the day.

Both players hold five goals scored each and an average of 0.42. In the nation, Garcia and Hermannsdottir rank in the top 15 players with numbers of goals scored through 12 games played. LSU ranks second in the conference in goals scored through four SEC matchups.

Youth On The Pitch

After scoring three goals each in non-conference play, forwards Mollie Baker and Sage Glover both found the back of the net in SEC play for the first time in their collegiate careers in Sunday’s win versus Kentucky. 

Glover gave LSU a 2-1 lead in the match as she finished off a fantastic team sequence with a 10-yard goal that landed in the right-corner. Baker’s goal came in the 58th minute when the match was tied at 2-2. The freshman tracked a cleared ball to midfield and capitalized on a mistake in defense to break away with pace and beat the goalkeeper one-on-one. 

Freshman Baker and Glover are tied as the second leading goal scorers with four each. Of LSU’s 31 goals scored this season, 12 have come from true freshmen (38.7%) while another 12 goals have come from 5th year seniors/graduate students.

The Tigers have 13 goal scorers and have shown strong depth in the scoring department by scoring two or more goals in every match but one this season (1-1 draw vs. UCF).

Captain Jennings

Fifth year senior Lindsi Jennings has opened SEC play in strong form, contributing to LSU’s success both in defense and on the scoresheet. Captain and center back Lindsi Jennings has scored two goals in back-to-back SEC matchups for the Tigers. Jennings is third in the SEC with two goals in four conference matches.

Jennings first goal of the season came in Nashville when the Tigers opened up conference play with a 2-1 victory against Vanderbilt on Sunday, September 18. 

LSU opened the game on the front foot against Vanderbilt and were rewarded with a goal just 13 minutes in. After a corner was sent in, the ball fell on the left side of the box to fellow center back Shannon Cooke. Cooke took a touch and sent a cross to the back post that found Jennings, who headed home the ball into the back of the net. 

The goal gave LSU a 1-0 lead against the Commodores and Jennings earned her first goal of the season and second in her career. For fellow co-captain Cooke, the assist marked her first of the season and fourth of her collegiate career.

Jennings second goal of the season came in the Tigers last matchup against Missouri on Thursday. Following an initial cross into the box on the corner, Baker took possession of the ball on the right side of the box. She cut inside on her left foot and lofted a cross to the back post and found Jennings, who headed the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. 

The goal gave LSU a 2-1 lead and Jennings tallied her second goal in two straight games. Baker’s vital assist was her second of the season.

Jennings’ goal against Missouri secured the win for the home Tigers and moved LSU to 2-0 in conference play.

Terrific Thoreson

Angelina Thoreson leads the team in assists with six. The freshman continues to be a proven weapon on both sides of the ball and continues to create scoring opportunities for the Tigers. 

Thoreson recorded her first career assist in the season opener against Stephen F. Austin, where she sent in a ground pass inside the box that found Baker for the finish.

Her second assist came on the road at San Diego on a strong and accurate ground cross from the right side of the box that found Glover, who slotted it past the goalkeeper and extended the Tiger lead to 3-1.

Thoreson tallied assist No. 3 in Friday’s match against Grambling. Thoreson controlled the ball on the edge of the box and laid off a simple pass to Hermannsdottir, who came in charging from midfield and smashed the goal from 24 yards out.

The forward scored the first collegiate goal of her career at LSU in the squad’s matchup against Princeton on September 8. Thoreson took the early lead for the Purple & Gold in the 14th minute as she slotted a ball from 15 yards out into the bottom-left corner.

Thoreson tallied her fourth assist in the Tigers face off with No. 6 Rutgers and took a shot on goal, which fell loose off the goalie and found Garcia for the rebound finish. 

Against Missouri, Thoreson tallied her fifth assist as she laid off a pass to Dobles, who hit a first-time cross into the box and found Prince, who took a volley touch that found the back of the net. 

The freshman continued her tally of assists in Sunday’s match against Kentucky. Thoreson sent a ground cross on a first-time effort to find Sage Glover, who scored in the 34th minute to give the Tigers the 2-1 lead against the Wildcats. The assist increased Thoreson’s team-high total on the year to six.

The forwards six assists rank sixth in the country through 12 games played. 

The Sweden native played the last three seasons (2019, 2020, 2021) for IK Uppsala, a professional club back in Sweden and made over 50 appearances for the club. Thoreson played the 2019 season in the Damallsvenskan division, which is the highest level of women’s soccer in Sweden. She scored five goals in 20 games played during the 2021 season.

SEC Standings

LSU sits in fourth place in the SEC with five games remaining on the conference schedule. The top 10 teams in the league advance to the conference tournament which will take place from October 30 – November 6 in Pensacola, Fla.

The Tigers have earned nine points in conference play this year and rank fifth in the SEC West division. The two division champions will serve as the top two seeds at the SEC Tournament, and the final eight teams are decided by points accumulated in conference play. 

For a full list of standings, visit secsports.com.

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