BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer team (8-7-2, 3-5-1 SEC) will host the Texas A&M Aggies (8-6-3, 4-3-2 SEC) for their regular season finale on Thursday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m. CT inside the LSU Soccer Stadium.
“We always love the opportunity to honor our seniors and thank them for their contributions to the program over the years. The last two senior nights have seen memorable performances from the team and this year will require another one to seal our place in the SEC tournament,” head coach Sian Hudson said.
“Texas A&M are a fantastic team. They are loaded with attacking talent and we will need a solid defensive performance tomorrow night to limit them. We are a team that is at its best on big occasions, and there is no bigger occasion for us right now than a must win game at home on senior night.”
The competition between the Tigers and the Aggies will be broadcast live on SEC Network and live stats for the game can be found on lsusports.net.
Promotion
It is senior night on Thursday night at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The first 400 fans to arrive at the match will receive a special “Tiger Tour” t-shirt featuring all of the seniors. Gates to the stadium open at 6:30 p.m. CT. It is also the pups at the pitch match, where all dogs (and their Halloween costumes) are welcome.
All promotions for the 2023 LSU Soccer season can be found here.
Series History
Thursday’s matchup between LSU and Texas A&M will be the 15th all-time meeting between the two programs.
The Tigers hold a 0-12-2 series record against the Aggies as they will look for their first program win over Texas A&M in their regular season finale.
The last time the two teams met was in 2022, when they battled to a 2-2 draw in Bryan-College Station.
Last Time On The Pitch
The LSU Soccer team (8-7-2, 3-5-1 SEC) suffered defeat at the hands of the Auburn Tigers (7-6-4, 3-4-2 SEC) on Sunday afternoon inside the Auburn Soccer Complex.
LSU was led statistically by goalkeeper Mollee Swift, who had five saves over the course of the match. The Purple & Gold Tigers took nine shots on the day, with Neveah Johnson, Taylor Dobles and Laney Gonzales all tallying a shot on target.
Auburn started off on the front foot as their first goal came early in the match in the sixth minute. Maddie Simpson found the back of the net to give the home Tigers the lead while Anna Haddock provided the assist on the goal.
In the 20th minute of the contest, Auburn won a corner in the LSU end of the field. Anna Haddock played the ball into the box and Jessica Osborne headed the ball past LSU’s Mollee Swift into the back of the goal, extending Auburn’s lead to 2-0.
The first half ended 2-0 in favor of Auburn, who tested LSU keeper Swift with five shots on goals in the first half. LSU’s Ava Galligan, Kelsey Major, and Sage Glover took their opportunity at the net in the first 45 minutes but couldn’t find the target. Swift recorded three first half saves.
LSU saw their first scoring opportunity in the 52nd minute of the second half as Gonzales, who received the ball at the top of the box from Galligan, got around the Auburn defender and took a shot to the upper left that went straight to Auburn keeper Maddie Prohaska.
Nevaeh Johnson continued to look for LSU’s first goal of the match in the 68th minute as she attempted to head the ball into the back of the net off a corner from Glover, but the attempt was collected by Auburn Keeper Prohaska.
Simpson extended Auburn’s lead to 3-0 as she notched her second goal of the evening. In the 73rd minute, Auburn’s Sydnie Thibodeaux had her shot attempt blocked by an LSU player, but Simpson made no mistake with her shot on the rebound and placed it into the top right-hand corner.
Dobles recorded the Tiger’s last chance on goal in the 77th minute. The forward found the breakaway after Auburn tried to clear the ball up field that reflected off LSU’s Danielle Shannon right to the foot of the Dobles, who sped past the Auburn defender and took a shot on target that was saved by Prohaska.
The visiting Tigers couldn’t find their scoring momentum on the day as the match ended 3-0 in favor of the home Tigers in Auburn. LSU took nine shots compared to Auburn’s 13, while losing the possession battle 45% to 55%.
2023 Stat Leaders
The Tigers are 8-7-2 on the year with a 6-2-2 record at home as they welcome Texas A&M for the regular season final on Thursday evening.
Forward Taylor Dobles is the squad’s leading goal scorer with five on the year, a career-high. Her last goal against No. 24 Alabama was the 10th in her career at LSU. The graduate student has also found the back of the net against No. 9 Texas and Northwestern State this season.
Sage Glover and Ida Hermannsdottir have the second most goals scored on the year for Tiger with four each. Glover notched her fourth goal on the year in the squad’s match against Mississippi State. Her previous goals have come against Southern, Texas A&M-Commerce and No. 22 Georgia. She owns eight in her career.
Hermannsdottir notched her fourth goal of the year against Pepperdine to move her career total to 11. She scored in the Tiger’s matches against Southern Miss and No. 9 Texas. The midfielder has also tallied two assists, 11 shots on goal and 10 points this season.
Other goal scorers on the year include Noel (3), Baker (3), Galligan (3), Major (2), Bertram (2), Swift (2), Prince (1) and Jordan Johnson (1). The Tigers have over 10 different goal-scorers, which puts them in an elite category.
Baker has been a crucial part of the midfield as she has started in every match for the Tigers this year. The senior has notched 52 shots, with 22 being on target, four assists and 10 points through 1,283 minutes on the pitch.
Freshman forward Ava Galligan leads the team in assists and points. Galligan has notched three goals, five assists, 11 points and 12 shots on goal in her first year as a Tiger. Her first collegiate goal came against Pepperdine, where she found the equalizer, again for the gamewinneragainst Tennessee and most recently against No. 9 Arkansas to put her team on the board.
Goalkeeper Mollee Swift has recorded 57 saves on the year with over 1,000 minutes played in between the posts. She owns a GAA of 1.60. The keep has also tallied two goals on penalty kicks this year.
The sophomore trio of Jocelyn Ollivierre, Laney Gonzales and Danielle Shannon have been huge for the Tigers. Ollivierre and Shannon have appeared in every match for LSU and earned the start in more than half of those matches, while Gonzales earned her first career starts in the Tigers matches against the Volunteers and the Tide.
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 17 matches.
Conference Rankings
LSU sits at tenth place in the league with their record of 3-5-1 heading into the final conference match before the tournament. LSU currently has 10 points through conference play and will need a win on Thursday night to secure their spot in Pensacola.
The squad ranks amongst the top six teams in the conference in goals, shots, saves, points and assists. LSU has tallied 30 goals, 30 assists and 90 points through 17 matches this year. The squad has also recorded 246 shots, with 108 of those being on target.
Baker’s 52 shots on the year place her fourth in the conference while Galligan is amongst the top-5 assisters in the conference with five.
Swift ranks second with her 57 saves on the year while also placing in the top-10 in shutouts with her in between the posts.
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.
Swift Saves
Goalkeeper Mollee Swift became the all-time save leader in program history with
her 295 career saves and counting. The keeper made three saves in the squad’s match against No. 9 Arkansas to break the previous save record of 287 and take the lead.
Swift also found her 300th career save this season against Northwestern State. Her career total is now at 340 over her career.
The Papillion, Nebraska native previously recorded 45 saves during her time at the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs that go toward her career total. Since transferring to LSU in 2021, she has tallied 295 saves in between the post to etch herself in the LSU record books.
On the year, the keep has tallied 57 saves through 17 matches and over 1,000 minutes between the posts.
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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