BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer Team (7-6-1, 2-4-0 SEC) will welcome the Texas Longhorns (10-2-2, 3-2-1 SEC) to the LSU soccer stadium on Sunday, October 13 at 1 p.m. CT.
“We’re really excited for our match against the Longhorns. We had a fantastic game against them last year, so we’re just excited for another matchup against them and the first in the SEC,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “They are coming off a big win against Oklahoma, so we expect a talented and quality team coming here on Sunday. The focus is getting points out of this game to move ourselves up in the conference standings.”
“Sunday’s match will be a great game for our fans. It’ll be a game between two teams that will want to play possession, and it’s definitely going to be a game where we’re going to have to win the midfield and control possession.”
The competition between the Tigers and the Longhorns will be streamed on SECN+. The watch link and live stats link can be found here.
Promotions
Sunday night’s match is the Tigers pink match in honor of October being breast cancer awareness month. In support of the cause, the first 170 fans to arrive will receive a free LSU Soccer pink t-shirt. Gates to the soccer stadium will open at Noon CT.
All match-by-match promotions for the year can be found here.
The Opponent
LSU is 1-3-1 against Texas all-time with their series highlighted by a historic road win last year when the Tigers defeated the Longhorns 3-1 in Austin, marking the program’s first win against a Top-10 team on the road.
Sunday afternoon’s competition will mark just the second competition between LSU and Texas to take place in Baton Rouge. The two programs last met in Baton Rouge on Sept. 13, 2006, when the Longhorns beat the Tigers, 4-2.
Of the five previous matchups between UT and LSU, four have taken place in Austin, including a 2023 meeting the Tigers won, 3-1.
A potential win over LSU on Sunday afternoon would mark the 350th all-time victory throughout the history of the Texas women’s soccer program. The Longhorns have
Entering Sunday’s match, Texas senior midfielder Lexi Missimo leads the SEC with 24 points with eight goals, eight assists in 14 matches played so far this season. Missimo’s eight goals are one shy of tying for the league lead, while her eight assists are two back of the conference’s top spot.
Texas has 29 goals, 39 assists, 281 shots, 130 shots on goal and 50 saves this year. They currently rank fourth in the SEC with 10 points and were recently ranked No. 23 by Top Drawer Soccer last week.
Tiger Notables
LSU will look to get back in the win column on Sunday afternoon on their home turf. The Tigers are 2-4-0 through conference play thus far as they will look to secure their second consecutive win over the Longhorns this year.
The Tigers 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) .
LSU has scored 26 goals on the year. 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 so far this year, 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 202 shots on the year, with 93 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 SOG category with 16. Baker, Glover, Shannon, Smith, Amsden, 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 43 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), shutouts (3) and saves (43).
LSU currently sits 11th in the overall SEC standings with six points, while Mississippi State and Arkansas share the top spot with 15 points. The Tigers rank in the top-10 in the SEC in goals (26), saves (46) and shots (202).
The Tigers average 1.86 goals per game compared to 1.64 from their opponents, while also averaging about 14.4 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 Kentucky in a back-and-forth battle with the Wildcats in Lexington last Thursday night by a score of 2-1. Kentucky’s Alexis Tylenda scored the game winner with just five minutes remaining in the match to secure the win.
The Wildcats got on board first in Lexington in the first three minutes to start the match. Kentucky’s Makala Woods scored the opening goal when she received a through ball from Maddie Kemp around the midway mark and took it on her own the rest of the way and past LSU keeper Audur Scheving. Kemp was credited the assist on the goal.
Kentucky came out hot as they held 52% possession compared to LSU’s 48% in the first half. LSU began to find their momentum toward the last 20 minutes of the half, but could not find the right opportunity. LSU keeper Scheving tallied four saves in the first half, including one huge save off a penalty from Kemp, stopping Kentucky from extending their lead. The first half ended 1-0 in favor of the Wildcats. The Tiger defense was tested as Kentucky took seven shots, but LSU was able to hold Kentucky to their lone goal.
The second half saw more of Kentucky fighting off the Tigers as they searched for the equalizer, which finally came as Ava Amsden scored in the 73rd minute. Kelsey Major was rewarded a foul in the box, giving LSU the perfect chance to get on the board. Amsden drilled home her second penalty kick of the year to level the match 1-1 in Lexington. The Tigers and Wildcats continued to battle back and forth as both teams looked for the advantage. Both teams took six shots in the second half. LSU saw attempts from Sage Glover, Amy Smith, Aurora Gaines, Mollie Baker, Andrea Iljkic, Ava Amsden and Danielle Shannon. The Tigers five attempts on target came from Glover, Iljkic, Smith and Shannon.
With just five minutes remaining in the match, Kentucky’s Alexis Tylenda was able to score the game-winner. Grace Phillpotts sent a ball in that found Kemp, who perfectly flicked the ball with her head over the LSU defender and to the feet of Tylenda, who confidently slotted it home to give Kentucky the lead.
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 for this upcoming 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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