PENSACOLA, Fla. – The fifth-seeded LSU Soccer team (10-5-3, 5-2-3 SEC) is set to face 11th-seeded Auburn (5-5-7, 1-3-6 SEC) in the first round of the 2025 SEC Tournament on Sunday, November 2 at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex.
The battle of the Tigers will kick off at 7 p.m. CT with Alex Perlman and Marion Crowder calling the action in Pensacola. The winner of the match will advance to quarterfinals and face Tennessee (4) on Tuesday, November 4.
More information on the 2025 SEC Tournament and Sunday’s matchup can be found here.
The Matchup
LSU is 10-22-4 all-time against Auburn, last taking them down 3-1 on the road in September. It was LSU’s first victory on the road against Auburn in the regular season since 2009.
The last time the two met in the SEC Tournament was in 2024, when 11th-seeded LSU defeated No. 24 ranked Auburn in a 2-1 first round victory of the tournament to advance. At the time, the win was the Tigers first top-25 victory since No. 22 Georgia in 2023 and Head Coach Sian Hudson’s first victory over Auburn since beginning her tenure at LSU. LSU is 3-2-1 when facing Auburn in the SEC Tournament.
Auburn has scored 27 goals on the year with 129 shots on goal, 31 saves and six shutouts. On the comparison, LSU owns 37 goals, 109 shots on goal, 56 saves and five shutouts. The Orange and Blue Tigers have taken the most shot attempts by any team in the conference this year (161).
SEC Tournament History
This year marks LSU’s 21st overall appearance in the SEC Tournament in program history. LSU is 12-13-9 all-time when competing in the tournament, while the program owns one championship title in 2018.
The program’s lone SEC title came in a double overtime win over Arkansas in the 2018 SEC Tournament Championship game when the Tigers won 4-1 in penalty kicks to make history. LSU went down in the SEC record book as the lowest seed to win the conference tournament as a seven seed alongside the seventh-seeded Auburn team from 2011, plus being the first team to ever win SEC title after playing in the opening round since the tournament expanded in 2012.
The Tigers also kicked off last year’s tournament slate against Auburn, where they came out victorious to advance to the quarterfinals and ultimately fell to Texas.
LSU has now appeared in the SEC Tournament every year under Head Coach Sian Hudson and will look to make a run.
Last Time On The Pitch
LSU defeated Florida in their final regular season match of the year last Sunday. The win secured the team their highest finish in the SEC under Head Coach Sian Hudson as they finished the regular season fifth in the standings with 18 points.
LSU also concluded their home season with a 6-1-1 record after securing their first victory over Florida in Baton Rouge. The match was led by junior Ava Galligan, who secured a brace against the Gators, as well as goals from freshmen Sariyah Bailey and Gadea Blanco Gonzalez. Galligan’s brace took her season total to eight and Bailey moved her total to six while Blanco Gonzalez earned her first collegiate goal.
The Tigers four goals against the Gators marked the most goals scored in a single game by LSU against Florida. Overall, LSU dominated Florida on the day, outshooting them by a margin of 19-10 and 13-5 in the shots on goal category.
Season Stats
LSU concluded the regular season on October 26 with a win over Florida, extending their unbeaten streak to seven, the longest streak without a loss in program history, and securing a fifth place finish in the SEC, their highest under Sian Hudson. The Tigers finished the regular season with a 10-5-3 overall record and a 5-2-3 mark in SEC play. They also went 6-1-1 at home in 2025.
The Tigers are building momentum at the right time just ahead of postseason play and are currently receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, recognizing them as one of the key contenders to keep an eye on across the nation.
LSU is also one of eight teams who rank in the Top 40 of the Oct. 27 RPI rankings. Tennessee (5th) and Vanderbilt (6th) lead the SEC squads ranked in the Top 40. Joining them are Arkansas (19th), LSU (24th), South Carolina (30th), Mississippi State (35th), Alabama (36th), and Georgia (40th).
The Tigers have steadily placed amongst the top-10 teams in conference play this year. LSU enters the tournament ranked second in goals (20), second in points (57), third in assists (17), fifth in saves (38) and sixth in shots (125).
Junior forward Ava Galligan leads the squad with eight goals scored this season while Hermannsdottir and Bailey both follow with six each. All three have been vital to the LSU offense, appearing in all 18 matches this year.
Graduate student Morgan Witz owns three goals herself in her first and final season at LSU. Other goal scorers on the year for LSU include Jazmin Ferguson, Gabbi Ceballos and Amy Smith all with two each, while Sydney Cheesman, Kelsey Major, Senai Rogers, Ryann Denecour, Daniela Hellin and Gadea Blanco Gonzalez have tallied one for the Tigers.
In her debut season, Bailey has also tallied six assists on top of her six goals. In the assists category, Hermannsdottir follows with five while Galligan and Makenna Dominguez have three each.
Goalkeepers Sophine Kevorkian and Audi Scheving have split time in between the posts for LSU this year, both finding their own success. Kevorkian has appeared in 11 matches for the Tigers this year, earning the start in the Tigers last two matches against Kentucky and Florida. She owns a 1.12 goals-against average (GAAVG), 32 saves and three shutouts.
Scheving last started for LSU against No. 17 Georgia, Texas A&M and Ole Miss. She owns 23 saves on the year with two clean sheets and a GAAVG of 0.96.
The LSU backline of Jocelyn Ollivierre, Jazmin Ferguson, Sydney Cheesman and Kelsey Major have held it down during the last stretch of SEC play for the Tigers, tallying the most minutes of action.
Ferguson, Hermannsdottir, Ollivierre and Major are the only Tigers to earn the start in all 18 matches for LSU thus far.
2025 SEC Awards
Five members of the LSU Soccer team were recognized by the Southeastern Conference on Thursday as the league announced its 2025 All-SEC postseason awards. Forward Ava Galligan, midfielder Ida Hermannsdottir, defender Sydney Cheesman, defender Jazmin Ferguson, and forward Sariyah Bailey all earned conference honors following standout seasons for the Tigers thus far.
Galligan was named First Team All-SEC, Hermannsdottir and Cheesman were selected to the Second Team, while Ferguson and Bailey each landed on the Third Team. Bailey was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team, marking one of only three freshmen league-wide to appear on multiple lists.
This year’s honor marked the first in their career for Galligan, Ferguson and Bailey, while it was the second award for Cheesman in her career and third for Hermannsdottir. All voting was conducted by the league’s 16 coaches.
A junior from Ashburn, Virginia, Galligan leads the Tigers with eight goals and 19 total points in 18 appearances this season, including a team-high five game-winning goals. The forward has been vital for the LSU offense all year, recording braces in wins over Florida and FGCU. She currently ranks among the league’s top scorers with a .195 shot percentage and 41 total shot attempts, with 19 of those being on goal.
Her first career placement on the All-SEC First Team comes after earning the final SEC Offensive Player of the Week honor of the regular season on Monday.
Hermannsdottir, a consistent force in the midfield, earned Second Team honors after totaling six goals and five assists across 18 starts. The Iceland native converted three of four penalty kicks on the season and logged a .625 shots-on-goal percentage, ranking second on the team in both goals and total points (17). She currently sits in the top-10 all-time in LSU Soccer history with the most career goals (25).
This year’s All-SEC honors marks the third for Hermannsdottir in her career. She earned All-SEC Third Team honors in 2024 and All-SEC Freshman Team honors in 2022.
It is the second All-SEC honor for Cheesman this year, a senior defender from Lafayette, Colorado. Cheesman is one of the anchors of the back line, starting in 16 of 18 games in 2025. The LSU defense allowed just 1.06 goals per game and helped record five shutouts in 18 matches thanks to the efforts of Cheesman, while also tallying one goal and two assists this year. Her one goal came in a massive strike from distance in the Tigers’ road win at Auburn.
Ferguson serves as another vital piece to the LSU back line, as her and Cheesman make up the Tigers centre back duo over the last two years. The senior captain from Conyers, Georgia, has started in all 18 matches and recorded a team-high 1,588 minutes. Ferguson has contributed on both ends of the field this year, tallying two goals and two assists, highlighted by a goal in the squad’s 4-1 win over Texas A&M on October 10.
Bailey has made an immediate impact in her debut season in Baton Rouge, earning Third Team All-SEC and All-Freshman honors in her first year. The forward is currently tied for second on the team with six goals and six assists for 18 points, registering multi-goal performances against Texas A&M and contributing in eight different scoring matches.
Ferguson and Hermanndottir are two of only four players to start in every match this season.
This year’s All-SEC group of Tigers helped lead LSU to fifth place finish in the SEC, their highest finish under Head Coach Sian Hudson and highest in program history since 2013.
Together, Galligan, Hermannsdottir, Cheesman, Ferguson and Bailey have scored 23 of the Tigers 37 goals this year, helping lead their team to the most goals scored in SEC play since 2011.
Next Up
A win over Auburn on Sunday would mean LSU advances to the quarterfinals on Sunday, November 4 against four-seed Tennessee. The quarterfinal matchup is set for 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Semifinal action in Pensacola is set for Thursday, November 6 while the championship match is on Sunday, November 9.
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