AUSTIN, Texas – The LSU Soccer team opens road play as they face No. 9 Texas at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, August 24 at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field.
The battle in Austin will be the Tiger’s first ranked matchup of the season. The last time the program defeated a ranked opponent was in 2021, when LSU took down No. 4 Arkansas with a score of 4-2 at home to pick up the highest ranked-win in program history.
Last season, LSU recorded three draws against ranked opponents against No. 14 Pepperdine, No. 16 Tennessee and No. 9 Arkansas. The Tigers will look fo
“We’re really excited for the game. Texas has had a really good start to the season and this is a good opportunity to see them before they come into the SEC,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “It’s a great opportunity for the girls to come out and play against a ranked opponent and I think we have the attacking talent to get at them and cause some problems. We had a good confidence boost after our win against Southern Miss and we’re going to use it going into the match tomorrow.”
The competition between the Tigers and the Longhorns will be available to watch via streaming on Longhorn Network/ESPN+ and live stats for the match can be found on lsusports.net.
Series History
Texas leads the series as LSU owns a 0-3-1 record against the Longhorns. This will be the first time the two teams meet since 2007, when the Tigers battled the No. 4 Longhorns to a 2-2 draw. At the time, the draw marked the third time in program history that the Tigers earned a positive result against a ranked opponent.
Last Time On The Pitch
The Tigers notched their first victory of the 2023 season on Sunday, August 20 as the squad defeated Southern Miss by a score of 4-1 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 scored two goals in a match since 2021, when Alesia Garcia and Tinaya Alexander tallied multiple goals over Sam Houston
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 got on the scoreboard first as freshman Ava Galligan found herself with the ball in the middle of the field. The 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.
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 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 to mark the first of her collegiate career.
The 2023 Squad
This year, the roster is composed of 28 athletes with nine seniors, three juniors, 11 sophomores and five freshmen. 21 Tigers return from the 2022 roster who made a run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
There are seven new faces on the 2023 squad, including freshman Caley Swierenga, Andrea Iljkic, Ava Galligan, Brielyn Knowles and Alyson Campbell. New to the squad this year is also sophomore transfer out of Oklahoma, Hali Hartman, and walk-on Sarah Portis.
Fifth-year veterans Mollee Swift and Maya Gordon are key returners as they lead the squad as captains this upcoming season. Also returning are seniors Rammie Noel, Taylor Dobles, Jordan Johnson, Abby Smith, Britney Bertram, Mollie Baker and Bella Zanotelli, who bring experience and depth to the squad.
The junior class is composed of Nevaeh Johnson, Tori Gillis and Jaden Humbyrd. Danielle Shannon, Laney Gonzales, Bailey Herfurth, Jocelyn Ollivierre, Ida Hermannsdóttir, Angelina Thoreson, Kelsey Major Raelyn Prince and Sage Glover are ready for year two in the purple and gold.
Three countries are represented in this year’s squad (United States, Iceland and Sweden). Ida Hermannsdottir is a native of Iceland and Angelina Thoreson is a proud Swede.
Of the remaining 26 athletes, six are native to Colorado, five to Texas, and four to Louisiana and Florida. The remaining states that are represented are Arizona, New York, Virginia, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington.
The Captains
LSU is captained by the veteran duo of fifth year seniors Maya Gordon and Mollee Swift for the 2023 season.
A native of Papillion, Nebraska, Swift is a three-year starter between the posts for the Tigers. The goalkeeper recorded 77 saves last year, which placed her third in the conference. She also averaged 4.05 saves per game leading all SEC keepers. She was responsible for five clean sheets in the 2022 season and finished the year with a record of 7-4-7 and 1,693 minutes played.
Swift currently ranks third in LSU program history in saves and shutouts as she will look to continue to etch her name in the record book this year.
Gordon is a veteran in the backline who has notched notable minutes in her four years at LSU with a total of 4,775 minutes on the pitch heading into her final season.
The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native earned the start in 18 of 19 matches for the Tigers last year and returns experience to the defensive unit.
SEC Preseason Watchlist
Mollie Baker, Maya Gordon, Ida Hermannsdóttir, Rammie Noel and Mollee Swift are five of 72 student-athletes on this year’s watchlist.
A defender from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Gordon has been a key component to the LSU defense over the past four years. She returns experience to the backline as she earned the start in 18 of 19 games played for the Tigers last season and helped shutout five opponents in 2022.
Swift is a three-year starter who also returns experience to the team this year. Last year, the goalkeeper recorded 77 saves (third best in SEC) on a 74% save percentage on the year, was responsible for five clean sheets and averaged 4.05 saves per game, which lead all SEC keepers between the posts.
A native of Reykjavik, Iceland, Hermannsdóttir enters her second year with the Tigers after recording seven goals, two assists and 16 shots on goal last year.
The rising sophomore earned multiple honors in her debut season at LSU in 2022, including All-SEC Freshman Team, Top Drawer Soccer All-Freshman Team and LSWA Louisiana Freshman of the Year.
Noel is a forward from Carencro, Louisiana, who is a major contributor on the wing for the Tigers. She started in 16 matches with 19 appearances and tallied one goal and two assists throughout the 2022 season.
In her debut season as a Tiger after transferring from North Carolina in 2022, Baker notched four goals, six assists, 17 shots on goal and one game winning goal in the squad’s 3-2 win versus Kentucky last season. The forward continues to be an offensive force for the Tigers as she enters her senior season this year.
Building The Program
In only her third season as head coach of the Fighting Tigers, Hudson led her squad to the program’s eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022 and second postseason appearance in her LSU career. The Tigers first round win over Lamar on November 11 marked Hudson’s first victory in the NCAA Tournament.
Last year, she recorded the program’s 13th ten-win season with an overall record of 10-4-7 in 2022. The Tigers shutout five opponents and recorded a draw against three ranked opponents.
Hudson enters her fourth year leading the Tigers in 2023. On her staff, she is joined by associate head coach Seb Furness (4th year), assistant coach Tiffany Hansen (2nd year) and assistant coach Trey Thompson (1st year). Together, Hudson and the LSU Soccer program invest in developing their players.
In her time as head coach, she has had six players take their talents to the next level. Shannon Cooke, Lindsi Jennings, Alesia Garcia, Brenna McPartlan, Tinaya Alexander and Athene Kuehn were coached and developed by Hudson and are now playing professionally across the world.
In 2021, the Tigers reached new heights under Hudson that included the highest national ranking in program history (No. 5), highest ranked win in program history (4-2 victory vs. No. 4 Arkansas on Oct. 28), and the highest single game attendance at the LSU Soccer Stadium (3,021 at LSU vs. Mississippi State).
In three short years, Hudson and the Tigers have shattered LSU Soccer Stadium attendance records. Two of the program’s top ten all-time largest crowds were under Hudson as LSU continues to be one of the top program’s nationally with fan attendance, earning Top 15 status in 2021.
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