COLUMBIA, S.C. – The LSU Soccer team (7-4-1, 2-2-0 SEC) hit the road to face No. 13 South Carolina (8-1-3, 2-0-2 SEC) for the team’s third ranked matchup on the road this season on Thursday, October 5 at 6 p.m. CT in Stone Stadium.
“We are excited for the trip to Columbia and the opportunity to play one of the most consistently ranked top teams in the country,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “I have huge respect for Shelley (Smith) and the way her team plays and we are looking forward to the chance to respond after a poor performance against Florida.
“We have shown time and again this season that we can respond well when needed and I fully expect another great response against another ranked opponent tomorrow night.”
The competition between the Tigers and the Gamecocks will be available to watch via streaming on SEC Network+ and live stats for the game can be found on lsusports.net.
Series History
Thursday’s matchup will be the 23rd all-time meeting between the Tigers and the Gamecocks. LSU owns a 5-11-6 series record against South Carolina.
The Tigers have won the last three meetings over the Gamecocks, with the last face off being in October of 2021 when LSU came up victorious over South Carolina by a score of 4-0 in Baton Rouge.
Last Time On The Pitch
The LSU Soccer team (7-4-1, 2-2-0 SEC) fell to the Florida Gators (5-3-3, 1-2-1) by a score of 4-0 on Friday night at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
A crowd of 2,029 fans showed out for LSU last Sunday evening to record the sixth largest crowd in program history.
Florida opened the scoring on the night in the 16th minute when Julianne Leskauskas pounced on a goalkeeping error and scored on an open net. It became 2-0 in the 22nd minute when Megan Hinnenkamp’s headed effort found the back of the net. The lead was extended to three in the 68th minute when Anna DeLeon’s back post header from eight yards out found the back of the net. The final goal of the night came in the 74th minute when Hinnenkamp doubled her tally with a powerful shot from outside the box.
After a quiet ten minutes to start, end-to-end action brought the match to life. Sage Glover found herself on the end of a through ball from Mollie Baker and surged into the box, where she hit a powerful shot from 16 yards out that hit the underside of the crossbar, but did not cross the line. Seconds later, Florida charged on the counter and found Hinnenkamp in the box. The shot from the Florida Gator was saved by a charging Mollee Swift, who did well to come off her line and keep the scoreline even.
The deadlock was broken in the 16th minute. Swift’s attempt at a clearance was mis-hit, giving Leskauskas the chance to pounce on the loose ball and shoot into the open net from 15 yards out.
Five minutes later, Florida took a 2-0 lead. Madison Young sent a free-kick into the box and found the head of Hinnenkamp, who headed it with the back of her head from seven yards out and into the back of the goal.
Swift finished the first half with five saves and kept the Tigers in reach as they went into the break down 2-0.
The second half saw the Tigers play with high pressure and search for a goal to get back in it, but were not able to find a goal. The Gators took a 3-0 lead in the 68th minute. Maddy Pirello sent a cross inside the box to the back post and found DeLeon, who headed the ball from eight yards out and into the back of the net.
Florida made it 4-0 on the night in the 74th minute. Florida cleared a free kick from their box and found Hinnenkamp, who carried the ball the entire pitch on a solo run and thumped a shot from 25 yards out into the top-right corner. The goal was the final one of the night and the match ended 4-0 to the visiting Gators.
Florida outshot LSU by a score of 16-6 and narrowly claimed the possession battle by a margin of 53% to the Tigers’ 47%.
2023 Stat Leaders
The Tigers are 7-4-1 on the year with a 2-2 record on the road as the squad gets ready to face their third ranked opponent of the year. LSU has come up victorious in both previous meetings against ranked opponents this year and remain unbeaten in four out of their five last matches against ranked opponents as they look to continue their streak against No. 13 South Carolina.
Forwards Taylor Dobles and Sage Glover and midfielder Ida Hermannsdottir lead the Tiger’s in goals scored this year with four each.
Glover joined the team top-scorers after tallying her fourth goal on the year in the squad’s match against Mississippi State on Sunday. Her previous goals have come against Southern, Texas A&M-Commerce and No. 22 Georgia. She now owns eight in her career.
Dobles tallied her second brace of the year against Northwestern State to record her third and fourth goals of the year and move her career total to nine.
Hermannsdottir notched her fourth goal of the year against Pepperdine to move her career total to 11. The midfielder has also tallied two assists, 10 shots on goal and 10 points this season.
Noel and Baker sit as the second highest goal-scorers with three each. Noel tallied her third goal in the Tiger’s win over No. 22 Georgia after finding the net against Southern and Texas A&M-Commerce while Baker notched two goals against Southern Miss and one against Southern.
There have been various players across the scoresheets this year, putting the Tigers in an elite group of programs who have 10 or more different goal-scorers in the country.
Baker and freshman forward Ava Galligan lead the team in assists with four each. Galligan has also notched one goal, six points and five shots on goal in her first year as a Tiger. Her first collegiate goal came against Pepperdine, where she found the equalizer to level out the match for the Tigers and earn a point in the draw.
Goalkeeper Mollee Swift has earned the start in all 12 matches for the Tigers and has recorded 31 saves on the year with over 1,000 minutes played in between the posts. She owns a GAA of 1.52.
Veteran returners Baker, Swift, and Gordon are the only four players to start in every match for LSU on the year, having tallied over a combined 3,000 minutes on the pitch through 12 matches.
Conference Rankings
LSU sits at sixth in the league with their record of 2-2-0 in conference play. The squad will look to get back in the win column and put them in a good position for their third conference win of the year on Thursday night.
The Tigers rank amongst the top five teams in the conference in goals, shots, points and assists. LSU has tallied 27 goals, 26 assists, 190 shots and 80 points through 12 matches this year.
Baker’s 43 shots on the year place her third in the conference while her and Galligan are both ranked sixth in assists with four each, respectively.
Swift is tied in fourth with her 31 saves on the year while also being tied at third for shutouts combined with two.
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.
The 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.
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