Though there is rarely an easy way to finish a season, the LSU soccer team still seems to find some particularly brutal methods.
No. 10 seed Auburn (8-8-4, 3-5-3 Southeastern Conference) used senior forward Bianca Sierra’s penalty kick golden goal in the seventh minute of overtime to best the No. 7 seed LSU (9-9-2, 5-5-1 SEC), 1-0, Monday in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.
The teams traded quality looks at the goal down the stretch in regulation, but it was the Tigers from the Plains that controlled the overtime action, culminating with a foul call on LSU junior defender Jodi Calloway for a contested header.
“Unless you win the national title, you’re probably losing your last game, and that’s what you’ll remember,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “It seems we have a tough [finish] every year.”
Calloway appeared to be contesting a 50-50 ball just yards from the net, but the call came and elicited incredulous reactions from Calloway and the rest of the LSU back line.
The pleading was for naught, as Sierra buried her first goal of the season on the penalty kick to extend Auburn’s unbeaten streak to seven matches.
“We didn’t feel like it was a penalty, but the result is not unfair either,” Lee said. “It was an even match. Jodi probably bumped her a little bit, but it was embellished some. It was certainly reasonable that [the referee] called it, though you’d like to see play-on in that situation.”
Auburn advances to face No. 2 seed Texas A&M in Wednesday’s quarterfinal match.
The loss ended LSU’s season, as a second-half spiral featured six straight losses to close the year. LSU led the SEC just three weeks ago.
It was the second consecutive year that LSU’s season ended with a last-minute defeat in Orange Beach.
In a similar situation last fall, needing several wins to make a case for an NCAA Tournament bid, LSU bowed out in the first round of the 2012 SEC Tournament when Ole Miss scored with 43 seconds left to break a scoreless tie.
This is the third time in five years that LSU’s season finished with a loss on a penalty kick.
In the final six minutes of regulation, freshman defender Megan Lee had two chances to put LSU ahead, missing a breakaway on a through ball from freshman forward Summer Clarke in the 84th minute.
During the 86th minute, her close-range header was tipped over the crossbar, halting LSU’s last legitimate scoring opportunity.
For her final college game, LSU senior goalkeeper Megan Kinneman turned in a vintage performance, saving seven shots and keeping a persistent Auburn offense off the board for 97 minutes and change.
“It was one of the best games of her career,” Brian Lee said. “In the second half, she made just four or five blinding saves to keep us in it. You can’t ask for more than she’s given us for four years.”
In 57 career starts, Kinneman allowed just 1.26 goals per game and saved a school-record 284 shots, but LSU missed the NCAA Tournament in all three seasons she was the full-time starter.
LSU has now missed the NCAAs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2005-06, Lee’s first two seasons as coach.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “We’re in a transition time in the program — some key seniors finishing up and playing with some really talented freshmen. The future is still on an upward path for us, but we didn’t have enough the last few weeks.”