BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer team notched their first victory of the 2023 season as the Tigers defeated Southern Miss by a score of 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
The victory was led by forward Mollie Baker and midfielder Ida Hermannsdottir, who each recorded a brace on the day. It was the first time two players individually scores two goals in a match since 2021, when Alesia Garcia and Tinaya Alexander tallied multiple goals over Sam Houston.
“It’s always great to get a win at home,” said Head Coach Sian Hudson. “This was certainly a great response after the loss Thursday night. I think from the first whistle to the last we were the best team on the pitch, and that means something. It was great to see a full ninety minute performance and overall just a great team performance.”
The brace marked the second time that Hermansdottir has scored two goals in a match in her career, with the first coming in 2022 against Grambling. Baker’s brace marked the first time in her collegiate career.
The Tigers began the contest on the front-foot just one minute in as Ava Galligan stole the ball from a Golden Eagle defender and ran into the box, where USM keeper Alex Helbing made an excellent save to deny Galligan of her first career goal.
Galligan bounced back and once again found herself with the ball in the middle of the field. The freshman forward located Baker with an excellent pass through the USM defenders, and Baker sprinted forward and slotted the ball home for the Tiger’s first goal of the 2023 season in the 8th minute.
LSU had a chance to double their lead in the 15th minute via a corner kick when senior Jordan Johnson fired the ball to Baker, who was waiting at the edge of the box. Baker knocked the ball right onto senior Britney Bertram in the middle who headed the ball just wide left of the net.
The second Tiger goal came in the 20th minute, when Jaden Humbyrd started the attacking play after she stole the ball from the Golden Eagle midfield. Humbyrd made a short pass to Baker, who ran nearly 30 yards past the USM back-line and slotted her second goal of the game to the right of USM’s Helbling.
The first half ended with the Tigers up 2-0 on the Golden Eagles.
LSU continued their attacking domination into the second half, as Ida Hermansdottir found the back of the net off of a Baker assist to record her first goal of the season and eighth in her career. Kelsey Major also recorded an assist on the goal.
In the 70th minute after a USM foul, Hermansdottir stepped up to take a free-kick in a dangerous area right outside the box. The midfielder curled the ball around the wall of USM defenders and gave Helbing no chance to make the save, putting the Tigers up 4-1 with a laser shot to the lower right 90.
Rebecca Vega scored the only goal for the Golden Eagles in the second half in the BLANK minute to mark the first of her collegiate career.
LSU will return to action on Thursday, August 24, as they take on the Texas Longhorns at 7 p.m. CT in Austin. The game will be televised on the Longhorn Network and live stats will be available on LSUSports.net.