BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer team (5-2-1) closed out non-conference play at the LSU Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon as they defeated the Northwestern State Lady Demons (2-5-0) by a score of 2-1. LSU was led in scoring by Taylor Dobles, who recorded a brace in 70 minutes of action.
“It is so important that we got this win as we head into conference play on Thursday (vs. Ole Miss) with as many wins as possible. We talked since the Pepperdine game about having a faster start, and I certainly think we got that today starting the game going two-nil up. We were really good for the first 20 minutes or so,” said Head Coach Sian Hudson.
“I think some players got opportunities today and played really well. Caley Swearinga, in particular, had her first career start and a great performance. Taylor Dobles obviously had a great response today after not starting last game. Overall, just happy to see the team progressing, and I think we are in a really good place heading into SEC play.”
It only took the Tigers nine minutes to find themselves on the scoresheet as midfielder Taylor Dobles recorded her 3rd goal of the season. After a scramble for possession in the box, midfielder Danielle Shannon set the ball up perfectly for Dobles, who tapped the ball past the Lady Demon goalkeeper Libe Banuelos for her first score of the match.
Just five minutes later, Dobles made no mistake as she scored her second goal. Defender Jocelyn Ollivierre found forward Rammie Noel with a long overhead through ball on the left side of the pitch. Noel dribbled the ball all the way up into the Lady Demon box and found an arriving Dobles, who once again easily slotted the ball into the back of the net for her second goal of the match and fourth of the year.
The goal marked the second time that Dobles has recorded a brace through eight matches on the year.
The first half ended with the Tigers up 2-0. LSU had six shots on goal in the first half in comparison to Northwestern State’s one.
Northwestern State’s Taylor Spitzer put the Lady Demons on the board in the 62nd minute in the second half to make it a 2-1 contest. That tally was Spitzer’s second goal of the season and the assist was credited to Emily Mougia.
LSU had multiple opportunities on goal during the second half but were unable to convert. The Tigers outshot Northwestern State 12-3 in the second half.
Ava Galligan had a shot from outside the box rattle off of the top of the crossbar. Galligan did an excellent job to create space for the shot after breezing past a Lady Demon defender. The shot was mere inches from going into the net.
LSU finished the day with 27 shots over Northwestern State’s four. The match concluded the Tigers’ non-conference slate for the 2023 season as the squad will head into the SEC portion of their schedule.
“I do not think there is a better matchup going into SEC play than Ole Miss,” said Hudson. “It is a little bit of a revenge game after last year’s loss in the SEC Tournament. I am sure the team is going to be fired up about the opportunity to come back and respond well. Obviously, SEC play brings a whole different level of excitement and atmosphere to everything that we are doing, so I am really excited.”
LSU will return to action on Friday, September 15th as they are slated to open conference play in Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on SEC Network+. Live stats will be available on lsusports.net.