On a gray and muggy Sunday afternoon at LSU Soccer Stadium, the dark storm clouds that surrounded the Tigers for nearly three weeks turned a shade lighter after an exhausting 110-minute match against Southeastern-Conference foe Arkansas.
But the outcome wasn’t necessarily what LSU (4-6-2, 0-2-1 SEC) had hoped it would be.
Razorbacks’ freshman midfielder Nicole Ortega scored a game-tying goal with seven seconds remaining in regulation, and the Tigers had to settle for a 3-3 draw in double overtime against Arkansas (5-2-4, 1-0-2 SEC) on Sunday.
The draw snapped LSU’s four-game losing streak that stretched back to a 4-3 win over BYU on Sept. 11.
After the match, LSU coach Brian Lee said he was proud of the fight his youthful club showed against a tough Arkansas squad.
“Big picture, the effort was way better,” Lee said. “The fight in us was much better. Everything about it was a massive step forward. It’s just a shame we didn’t get [the victory].”
Lee’s comments weren’t far off the mark. The Tigers, who had scored only three goals in their previous four games, found the net three times against Arkansas sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Carter.
Freshman striker Jorian Baucom opened the scoring affair when she chipped in a centering pass from sophomore forward Summer Clarke past Carter in the 27th minute of the first half. It was the sixth goal of the season for Baucom.
LSU took its 1-0 lead into the break, but Razorbacks’ sophomore midfielder Claire Kelley put Arkansas on the scoreboard with her fourth goal of the season a little more than 12 minutes into the second half.
LSU sophomore defender Megan Lee, who left Friday’s match against Texas A&M with an injury, responded two minutes later.
After reeling in a pass about 15 yards shy of midfield, Megan Lee dribbled all the way to the box before firing off a shot past Carter for her second goal of the season that gave the Tigers a 2-1 with 30 minutes remaining in regulation.  
“I was pretty sore from the other game [against Texas A&M], and I thought I wouldn’t be able to run or anything today, but I had to just tough through the pain,” Megan Lee said.
However, Arkansas junior defender Margaret Power offset Megan Lee’s highlight-reel goal when she snuck the ball past LSU freshman goalkeeper Lily Alfeld in the 74th minute to knot the game at 2-2.
But only 24 seconds went by before LSU responded with what seemed to be the game-winning goal.
Clarke, who assisted Baucom’s goal in the first half, took the ball on the right side of the field before cutting across the middle and splitting three Razorbacks’ defenders.
One-on-one with goalkeeper, Clarke sidestepped to her left to avoid a diving Carter, giving the All-SEC forward an open net to chip the ball in for her sixth goal of the season.
But Clarke credited LSU juniors Lexi Gibbs and Fernanda Pina for opening the field and giving her space to operate.
“Lexi and [Pina] made two amazing runs that completely cleared the outside, so props to them for that,” Clarke said. “If they hadn’t of made those runs, I wouldn’t have got on goal.”
But Clarke could only watch as Ortega’s shot went past Alfeld to force overtime. Despite ending the match in such fashion, Clarke said the team is taking satisfaction in coming away with a draw rather than a defeat. 
“It’s extremely frustrating to have someone score in the last seven seconds,” Clarke said. “But the game was tied, and we still hadn’t lost. So that was frustrating, but we put in the work in overtime, and we came out with a tie, which is better than a loss any day.”
After consecutive matches at home, the Tigers will return to the road for a two-game swing for matches against Mississippi State and No. 5 South Carolina on Friday and Sunday, respectively.