BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer Team (7-6-1, 2-5-0 SEC) fell to the Texas Longhorns (11-2-2, 4-2-1 SEC) by a score of 3-1 inside the LSU Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m disappointed because I think we played well,” said LSU Head Coach Sian Hudson. “Some of the possession in that game was some of our best soccer in the season. I thought for the first 15 minutes, we were the team in charge. It was just really disappointing to give up two goals on corner kicks. That is something that we just have to be better at, certainly on a Sunday in the SEC. Set pieces are absolutely crucial, and we just did not manage either of those moments well enough. All credit to Texas, and overall, I take a lot of heart out of the performance today.”
LSU’s lone goal of the day came from forward Andrea Ilkjic, who scored a penalty kick late in the second half. Also on the attack for the Tigers was Ida Hermannsdottir and Ava Galligan, who both recorded two shot attempts on target, and Sage Glover, Kelsey Major and Aurora Gaines, who also tested the Texas keeper. LSU goalkeeper Audur Scheving recorded three saves in the afternoon as well.
The Tigers came out strong in the first half, creating multiple scoring opportunities and holding 53% possession compared to the Longhorns 47%. Hermannsdóttir, Glover and Gaines all tested Texas keeper Mia Justus in the first
Texas opened the scoring in the 19th minute of the match when Amalia Villareal found the back of the net to give the Longhorns an early lead. Holly Ward provided the assist on the goal.
Just two minutes later, Texas nabbed their second goal via a shot from Jilly Shimkin. Holly Ward once again provided the assist, her second of the afternoon. LSU was unable to cut the Texas lead as the first half ended 2-0 in favor of the Longhorns.
The Tigers called Justus to action on four occasions, as she collected four saves in the first half while Scheving only one.
The Longhorns found a breakthrough in the 57th minute when Lexi Missimo ran all the way from midfield to the Tiger box to slot a shot past the reach of Scheving, making the score 3-0. Amalia Villareal provided the assist on that tally.
Mollie Baker scored on a great shot in the 63th minute, but the goal was reviewed by the VAR and disallowed due to an offside in the buildup.
LSU responded to the call not even 10 minutes later, when the Tigers were awarded a penalty kick in the 72nd minute. Ilkjic stepped up to take the penalty, and made no mistake as she lashed a shot into the left corner past the Longhorn goalkeeper to cut their lead and get the Tigers on the board.
Iljkic made it 3-1 on the day, recording her fourth career goal, all coming in the 2024 season. While the sophomore converted a big moment for LSU, the squad was unable to find two more goals to equalize the match.
It was the Longhorn’s 350th victory in program history as they gained three points on the day.
The Tigers finished the match with 16 shots, their most in five matches. Nine of those were on target. The Longhorns took 20 shots, with eight of those being on goal. Only four shots under Texas, it was an even matchup in Baton Rouge with both teams finding solid moments on the attack.
Scheving finished the match with four saves for the Tigers, moving her total this year to 47.
LSU will return to the pitch on Friday, October 18th to take on Texas A&M in College Station. The match will begin at 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+. Live stats will be available on lsusports.net.
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