BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer team (7-5-1, 2-3-0 SEC) will host the Tennessee Volunteers (6-2-4, 1-1-3 SEC) on Sunday, October 6 at 4 p.m. CT inside the LSU Soccer Stadium.
“We are really excited for our match against Tennessee tomorrow. We’ve made some adjustments to our shape and organization on both sides of the ball since South Carolina, so I’m just excited to see the team build on our performance,” head coach Sian Hudson said. “Tennessee is going to be a team that provides an opportunity for us to continue to play our style of soccer, but the most important thing is getting points out of this game with how close the standings are. Only three points separate 11 teams in the conference, so we have to take points out of every game and certainly a home game.”
“It’ll be an exciting match for our first television game this year. It’s a great opportunity for our fans across the country and certainly future Tigers that are watching us continue to build the LSU soccer brand nationally, and of course, we need Tiger Nation to show out and bring the noise,” said Hudson.
The competition between the Tigers and the Volunteers will broadcasted on SEC Network and live stats for the game can be found on lsusports.net.
Promotion
Sunday’s match is the pink match in support of breast cancer awareness month. The first 300 fans to arrive at the match will receive an exclusive LSU Soccer tumbler. Gates to the stadium open at 3 p.m. CT.
All promotions for the 2023 LSU Soccer season can be found here.
Series History
Sunday’s matchup between LSU and Tennessee will be the 24th all-time meeting between the two programs.
The Tigers are 4-14-5 against the Volunteers, with the last meeting being a scoreless draw in 2022 in Knoxville.
At home, the Tigers own a 3-5-1 record against the Volunteers as they will look to protect their home pitch on Sunday evening.
Last Time On The Pitch
The LSU Soccer team (7-5-1, 2-3-0 SEC) fell to No. 13 South Carolina (9-1-3, 3-0-2 SEC) on the road on Thursday night by a score of 1-0 in Stone Stadium.
LSU was led by forward Mollie Baker and midfielder Ida Hermannsdottir this evening as Baker tallied three shots for the Tigers and Hermansdottir added two shots of her own. Goalkeeper Mollee Swift finished the night with four saves and 90 minutes in between the posts.
The first half in Columbia began energetic with both teams exchanging possession. South Carolina’s Shea Rourke recorded two shots on target in the first fifteen minutes. Hermannsdottir responded with a shot that went wide right and couldn’t find the target for the Tigers.
Three of the Gamecocks nine shots in the first half were on target from O’Rourke, Lily Render and Reagan Schubach, but all were denied by Swift.
It was a 50/50 possession battle as the first half ended scoreless with neither team able to find the advantage. Swift recorded three saves in the first period to deny South Carolina from a goal in the first 45 minutes.
LSU opened the second half with a good opportunity in the 48th minute. Forward Sage Glover took the first corner kick of the night for the Tigers and sent a ball in the box that found midfielder’s Tori Gillis’s head, but she was unable to control the ball as it rolled out for a Gamecock goal kick.
South Carolina opened the scoring of the match in the 56th minute. Reagan Schubach took her chance as she maneuvered around in the box and found just enough time to strike the ball to the top left corner and give the Gamecocks the 1-0 lead on the night.
All of Baker’s shots came in her second half efforts to put the Tigers on the board, but the senior couldn’t find the back of the net. Glover also tallied a shot in the 82nd minute that went wide left as the Tigers continued to look for the equalizer in Columbia.
Hermansdottir found the only shot on target with a last-chance effort in the 87th minute for LSU. After sending a long cross to the box from the left flank, the midfielder once again saw the ball at her feet off a pass from Baker for a long-range effort that went straight to South Carolina goalkeeper Heather Hinz for the save.
The match finished 1-0 in Columbia as South Carolina came up victorious. The Gamecocks outshot LSU by 14 to six and five on target compared to LSU’s one.
2023 Stat Leaders
The Tigers are 7-5-1 on the year with a 5-2-1 home record as the squad gets ready to host Tennessee.
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 13 matches for the Tigers and has recorded 35 saves on the year with over 1,000 minutes played in between the posts. She owns a GAA of 1.47.
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 13 matches.
Conference Rankings
LSU sits at ninth in the league with their record of 2-3-0 in conference play. The squad will look to get back in the win column on Sunday evening.
The Tigers rank amongst the top five teams in the conference in goals, shots, points and assists. LSU has tallied 27 goals, 26 assists, 196 shots and 80 points through 12 matches this year.
Baker’s 46 shots on the year place her fourth in the conference while her and Galligan are amongst the top-10 assisters with four each, respectively.
Swift ranks third with her 35 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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