LEXINGTON, Ky. – The LSU Soccer Team (7-5-1, 2-3-0 SEC) will look to get back in the win column on Thursday, October 10 as they are set to face Kentucky (9-1-3, 1-1-3 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. CT inside the Bell Soccer Complex.
“I’m excited to see our team’s response tomorrow. Obviously last year we had a tight game against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, so now we’re excited for the opportunity to come to Lexington, where we won the last time we played here,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “Troy (Fabiano) has done a fantastic job since he’s been here, so we know it’s going to be a battle, as every game in the SEC is.”
“We’ve spent the week focusing on ourselves and talking a lot about what we need to be better at at the midway point of SEC play. I think Kentucky is an incredibly organized and difficult unit to break down, so being able to move forward in transition moments and holding possession is going to be important tomorrow.”
The competition between the Tigers and the Wildcats will be streamed on SECN+. The watch link and live stats link can be found here.
The Opponent
The Kentucky women’s soccer team concluded their two-game road trip this past week collecting four points and their first SEC win of the season in Tuscaloosa after defeating Alabama 2-0 on the road last Sunday.
The Wildcats now sit tied for ninth with LSU on six points through five SEC matches.
Kentucky saw its historic 8-0 start to the 2024 season come to an end after they were held to a 0-0 draw against Florida in their SEC season opener. However, the Wildcats remain unbeaten at home in 2024 and have not dropped a result at home since October 15th, 2023, a 2-0 loss to Mississippi State.
The Wildcats have scored 23 goals on the year with 14 assists, 200 shots, 78 shots on goal, and 60 points. Makala Woods leads the squad with six goals scored while Maddie Kemps has taken the most shots with 34.
Tiger Notables
LSU will look to get back in the win column on Thursday night in Lexington. The squad is 2-3-1 in conference play and have tallied four wins on the road this year.
The Tigers will look to secure their first win over the Wildcats in the regular season since 2022 and their first win in Lexington since 2021.
LSU came out hot on the attacking front through non-conference play, having marked wins over South Alabama (3-0), UMass Lowell (W, 3-0), Old Dominion (2-1), UL-Lafayette (3-1), San Francisco (4-1), Ole Miss (1-0) and Oklahoma (3-1) and a draw against Utah (1-1) .
The squad has scored 25 goals on the year as Ida Hermannsdóttir, Mollie Baker, Jazmin Ferguson, Angelina Thoreson, Ava Galligan, Andrea Iljkic, Amy Smith, Kelsey Major, Sage Glover, Gabbi Ceballos, Danielle Shannon and Ava Amsden have found themselves on the scoresheet.
On that same note, LSU has seen 12 different goal scorers through the regular season so far, with five players scoring the firsts of their career. Ferguson, Ceballos, Iljkic, Shannon and Amsden have all scored their first career goals at LSU this season. Hermannsdottir leads the team with seven goals on the year, while Ava Galligan follows with four.
The Tigers have recorded 16 assists across nine different players, with junior Sydney Cheesman leading the way. The UNC transfer has been pivotal in set pieces for LSU, recording a team high four assists on the year.
Overall, LSU has taken 194 shots on the year, with 88 of those being on target. Galligan leads the way with 29 shot attempts, while Hermannsdottir is just shortly behind with 28. The forward from Iceland also leads the shot on goal category with 16. Baker, Glover, Shannon, Smith, Iljkic, Ceballos and Thoreson have also been pivotal in attacking and have all tallied 10 or more shots on the year.
Audur Scheving, the sophomore from Iceland, has been pivotal in between the posts for the Tigers. She has recorded 39 saves and three shutouts for the Tigers in her first year.
The Icelandic duo of Hermannsdottir and Scheving both rank amongst the top-10 players in the conference currently in goals scored (7) and saves (39).
LSU currently sits ninth in the overall SEC standings with six points, while Mississippi State and Arkansas share the top spot with 12 points. The Tigers rank in the top-10 in the SEC in goals (25), assists (16), saves (42) and shots (194).
The Tigers average 1.92 goals per game compared to 1.62 from their opponents, while also averaging about 14.9 shots per game.
Hermannsdottir, Scheving, Cheesman and Shannon are the only players to start in every match for LSU this year.
Last Time On The Pitch
The Tigers fell to No. 16 Auburn by a score of 4-0 inside the LSU Soccer Stadium last Friday night. The victory was Auburn’s 11th shutout of the year and goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska’s 35th career shutout.
The visiting Tigers got on board first in Baton Rouge as Auburn’s Olivia Woodson opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Two passes from Dylan Driver and Carly Thatcher found Woodson waiting on the back post, where she scored on one touch. Auburn extended their lead just two minutes later as Mallory Mooney hit a half volley shot from just at the top of the box.
LSU’s goalkeeper Audur Scheving made two incredible saves during the first half to deny Auburn from extending their lead even further. The first half ended 2-0 in favor of Auburn.
The home Tigers saw more offensive opportunities in the second half as Sage Glover, Caley Swierenga, Amy Smith and Riley MacDonald all tallied shots for the Tigers in the second half. Swierenga took the only shot on target in the 55th minute.
“I thought some of our younger players came on the pitch at the end and raised the energy levels and gave us some different looks, so credit to them for coming in and making the most of their opportunity.”
Auburn tallied two more goals in the second half from Carly Thatcher and LJ Knox. It was a 4-0 Auburn lead in the 55th minute as LSU battled to get on board.
After a strong defensive effort, the Tigers were unable to find the back of the net and the night ended in favor of the visiting Tigers.
Scheving was vital in between the posts for the Tigers. The keeper from Iceland finished the night with six saves, matching her season and career high in the Purple & Gold.
“That’s two games now that Audi has kept us in the game. She had some massive saves for us and is turning into a massive player for us,” Hudson added.
Preseason Watchlist
Five Tigers on the LSU Soccer squad were named to the 2024 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist. A total of 88 student-athletes were named to this year’s watchlist, as Mollie Baker, Jazmin Ferguson, Ida Hermannsdóttir, Ava Galligan and Sydney Cheesman are the Tigers to keep an eye on this year.
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, and 1,551 minutes on the pitch while earning 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, she 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.
The Coaching Staff
Hudson enters her fifth season with the Tigers this year. Since beginning her tenure at LSU in 2019, she has propelled the program to unprecedented success alongside Associate Head Coach Seb Furness, who joined the coaching staff that same year.
Joining them on staff is Assistant Coaches Antony Blackburn and Conor Cable. Blackburn is a native of Derby, England, who initially joined the Tigers in Fall 2023 as an analyst. He will primarily assist with session planning and delivery, individual development plans, and opposition preparation. Prior to LSU, Blackburn served as Head Coach of Valencia C.F. U14’s (Valencia, Spain), one of the most prestigious academies in the world of professional soccer.
Cable joins the Tigers from Lake Erie College, where he spent five years helping lead the storm to new heights. Cable will primarily lead the LSU goalkeeping unit and oversee LSU Soccer community service and outreach events.
The Spalding, England native brings a wealth of experience to Baton Rouge from both his previous work with the Lake Erie goalkeeping unit and his own professional experiences. Cable came through the professional system in England, playing for a variety of Premier League and Championship Clubs including Norwich City and Cardiff City, and spent his youth academy days at Bristol City Football Club.
Under Hudson’s leadership, the LSU Tigers achieved significant milestones during the 2023 season, marking their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and third consecutive postseason showing—the most straight appearances by a coach in LSU history. Notably, Hudson secured her first LSU NCAA Tournament victory with a first-round win against Lamar on November 11, 2022.
This upcoming season, Hudson and her staff will look to earn her fourth consecutive and LSU’s 10th overall NCAA appearance. The Tigers also hope to secure the program’s 14th ten-win season while in pursuit of an SEC and national championship.
Attendance is another important component for the Tigers, as Hudson and her staff are striving to set new attendance records inside the LSU Soccer Stadium in 2024. Three of the program’s top ten largest crowds occurred under Hudson’s tenure.
The 2024 Roster
This year’s team is a mix of youth and experience. The roster is made up of 29 players, with one graduate student, two seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and 10 freshmen.
Mollie Baker and Jaden Humbyrd will lead the squad as captains this year, while ECU transfer Jazmin Ferguson will serve as the vice captain.
LSU has welcomed four new transfers this season in Ferguson, Cheesman, Sophine Kevorkian (USD) and Gabbi Ceballos (TCU).
The veteran seniors include Baker, Humbyrd and Tori Gillis, who all enter their final season with the Tigers this year.
Kevorkian, Ferguson, Hermannsdottir, Cheesman, Jocelyn Ollivierre, Angelina Thoreson and Sage Glover make up the junior class.
Thoreson returns to the pitch this year after sitting out of the 2023 season due to injury.
The sophomores on the squad are Ceballos, Danielle Shannon, Kelsey Major, Audur Scheving, Caley Swierenga, Andrea Iljkic, Ava Galligan, Brielyn Knowles and Alyson Campbell.
The freshmen class includes Riley MacDonald, Amy Smith, Annaleigh Bruser, Katelyn Holt, Emerson DeLuca, Ava Amsden, Aurora Gaines, Senai Rogers, Sarah Stadler and Natalie Dvorakova.
The addition of Scheving to the squad brings LSU’s total to four internationals on the roster. She is the second player to become a Tiger from Reykjavik, Iceland, along with Hermannsdottir. Other countries represented on the squad are Sweden and Czechia.
The full 2024 LSU Soccer Roster can be found here.
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