Birmingham, Ala. – Five Tigers on the LSU Soccer squad were named to the 2024 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist, announced by the league on Wednesday.
A total of 88 student-athletes were named to this year’s SEC preseason watchlist, as Mollie Baker, Jazmin Ferguson, Ida Hermannsdóttir, Ava Galligan and Sydney Cheesman represent the Tigers on this year’s list.
The 32nd season of women’s soccer in the SEC season begins Thursday, August 15 as the conference returns 62 percent (18 of 29) of the players that earned first or second team All-SEC honors last season. Nine first team selections return for the 2024 campaign.
Baker, Hermannsdottir and Galligan all return to LSU this year, while Ferguson and Cheesman transferred to the team this spring and enter their first season in the Purple and Gold.
A captain and leader on this year’s LSU squad, Baker enters her final season with the Tigers in 2024. The Gilbert, Arizona native was the only player to appear and start in all 20 matches for the Tigers last year. The forward tallied three goals, five assists, 1,551 minutes and earned United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Third Team honors in 2023.
A native of Reykjivic, Iceland, Hermannsdottir continues to be one of the top midfielders to watch in the nation. She enters year three at LSU with 11 goals, four assists and 2,366 minutes in her career.
Galligan, a dual forward/midfielder out of Ashburn, Virginia, enters her second year with the Tigers after a breakout debut season in 2023. She recorded four goals, five assists and played in all 20 matches in her freshman season.
Ferguson joined the squad from East Carolina University, where she spent two seasons and was the 2023 American Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
A native of Conyers, Georgia, Ferguson will serve as a vice captain on the squad as she enters her junior season this upcoming fall. United Soccer Coaches named her a defender to watch in 2024.
Cheesman is a defender out of Lafayette, Colorado, who transferred to LSU from the University of North Carolina, where she tallied 175 minutes on the pitch in her nine games played and helped lead the Tar Heels to two NCAA Tournament appearances. The defender was rated four stars by Top Drawer Soccer in the recruiting rankings in 2022 prior to starting her collegiate career at UNC.
Full 2024 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist:
Alabama
Leah Kunde (F)
Gianna Paul (F)
Nadia Ramadan (M)
Melina Rebimbas (M)
Gessica Skorka (D)
Arkansas
Kennedy Ball (M)
Kiley Dulaney (F)
Bella Field (F)
Mak Malham (M)
Kelsey Oyler (D)
Ella Riley (D)
Ella Rogers (M)
Macy Schultz (F)
Ava Tankersley (F)
Auburn
Anna Haddock (M)
Maddie Prohaska (GK)
Florida
Lena Bailey (F)
Josie Curtis (D)
Alexa Goldberg (GK)
Delaney Tauzel (M)
Daviana Vaka (D)
Georgia
Jordan Brown (GK)
Summer Denigan (M)
Margie Detrizio (F)
Amber Nguyen (M)
Dasia Torbert (M)
Nicole Vernis (M)
Hannah White (F)
Kentucky
Marz Josephson (GK)
Maddie Kemp (F)
Sophia Mattice (M)
Grace Phillpotts (D)
Makala Woods (F)
LSU
Mollie Baker (F)
Sydney Cheesman (D)
Jazmin Ferguson (D)
Ava Galligan (F/M)
Ida Hermannsdóttir (M)
Ole Miss
Kelly Brady (F)
Aubrey Mister (M)
Lauren Montgomery (M)
Shu Ohba (GK)
Hattie Patterson (D)
Mississippi State
Maddy Anderson (GK)
Rylie Combs (D)
Macey Hodge (M)
Hannah Johnson (M)
Aitana Martinez Montoya (M)
Missouri
Keegan Good (M)
Bella Hollenbach (GK)
Rachel Kutella (D)
Kylee Simmons (F)
Oklahoma
Cailey England (M)
Hadley Murrell (F)
Alexis Washington (F)
Leonie Weber (F)
Andie Wolfe (D)
South Carolina
Cat Barry (F)
Gracie Falla (D)
Hallie Meadows (D)
Brinley Murphy (M)
Reagan Schubach (F)
Corinna Zullo (F)
Tennessee
Mac Midgley (M)
Kate Runyon (F)
Jaida Thomas (F)
Sammi Woods (F)
Texas
Trinity Byars (F)
EmJ Cox (D)
Madison Haugen (D)
Mia Justus (GK)
Ashlyn Miller (M)
Lexi Missimo (M)
Jilly Shimkin (F)
Holly Ward (F)
Texas A&M
Sydney Becerra (MF)
Carolyn Calzada (D)
Mia Pante (MF)
Taylor Pounds (MF)
Jazmine Wilkinson (F)
Andersen Williams (MF)
Vanderbilt
Abi Brighton (M)
Rachel Deresky (F)
Ella Eggleston (M)
Courtney Jones (M)
Julianne Leskauskas (M)
Hannah McLaughlin (D)
Addie Porter (M)