BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Soccer team fell to the South Florida Bulls by a score of 1-0 on Thursday night in the squad’s regular season opener at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
“Obviously, I’m really disappointed to lose our home opener. I felt we had some really good moments in the game, but we just didn’t capitalize,” said Head Coach Sian Hudson. “Overall, we just weren’t clinical enough in the final third with our final action, whether it be service or a shot.”
Although LSU lost the contest, Tiger Nation showed out and recorded the second highest attendance for a home opener since 2012, with 1,258 fans.
LSU began the match on the front foot six minutes in when forward Ida Hermannsdottir fired a shot on net after service from Taylor Dobles. Dobles made an excellent run down the wing and put in a great ball to Hermansdottir, but Hermansdottir could only push the shot on net with no real threat.
Just minutes later, the Tigers went on the counter after Mollie Baker made a strong move to recover the ball and send a pass into the attacking third. Hermansdottir found Baker’s ball and sent a beautiful pass into Raelyn Prince, who fired a shot into the side netting.
USF’s Georgia Brown fired the Bulls ahead in the 16th minute with a strong header off a corner kick. Gentiana Fanaj provided the assist on the goal.
It was a 1-0 USF lead at the conclusion of the first half.
The Tigers created a couple chances to open the second half but could not find the back of the net. Jaden Humbyrd fired a header on goal from corner that was saved by USF’s Arden La-Rose. Rammie Noel fired a long range effort on net with 10 minutes left in the game, but it was saved comfortably by La-Rose.
LSU’s Mollie Swift recorded four saves on the evening. Four LSU players recorded a shot on goal, as Hermansdottir, Humbyrd, Noel, and Gordon all put the ball onto the net.
“We need to be better. We’ll refocus for Sunday and be locked in and take care of business.” said Hudson.
The Tigers will return to the pitch on Sunday, August 20 to take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at 4 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The match will be streamed live on SEC Network+.