LSU Soccer played to an intense 1-1 draw against the University of Central Florida Knights on Sunday afternoon.
In a tale of two halves, UCF opened the scoring with a free kick goal from Katie Bradley at the 30th minute. In the 46th minute, Mollie Baker leveled the game with a superb strike. Both goalkeepers found themselves with much to do on the day.
“What a game, the fans that came out today had an entertaining game for sure,” Head Coach Sian Hudson said. “I think UCF were the better team in the first half, but in terms of the second half response the tactical change worked well.”
The game started out slow for the Tigers as they were deployed in a 4-3-3 formation. UCF enjoyed much of the possession and the chances through the first 15 minutes.
LSU attempted to regain control but still struggled to manufacture quality chances that could lead to shots taken.
In the 30th minute, it was UCF’s Katie Bradley who found the back of the net on a free kick just outside the box. Bradley lined up over the ball which sat in the middle of the pitch and struck it home to her right side.
“A goal that when we look back on film, we are not going to be happy with,” Hudson said. “LSU had struggled to get going, and it had caught up to them there.”
The rest of the half was still LSU struggling to get its feet set, and UCF kept asking questions of the LSU defense. At halftime it was clear that LSU was lacking the possession advantage it had over Stephen F. Austin. The team still showed promise that they could get going and back into the game.
At the start of the second half, the Tigers did just that. Mollie Baker received the ball from Ida Hermannsdottir, and she turned to run at the defense, nutmegging the defender. Baker kept going and struck the ball as soon as she entered the box. The ball curled towards the far post bouncing off of it before going in.
Baker now has scored in both of the Tigers’ opening games.
“A huge confidence builder for the team and myself as well,” Baker said. “Transferring into the SEC and getting started on the right foot is the best I can ask for.”
After that, the momentum shifted in the Tigers’ favor. The offense continued to press the UCF defense looking for a lead. Coming out of the locker room the Tigers deployed into a 3-5-2 formation, which provided a huge boost to the midfield to help generate scoring chances.
The Tigers continued to press on for the lead but found themselves short at the back a couple of times. UCF attackers were able to find space, but Mollee Swift fought them off valiantly to help keep the Tigers in it.
In the last 10 minutes, the game was becoming stretched which led to chances on both ends of the field every couple of minutes.
The best of those chances was a curling shot from Baker that was screaming towards the back of the net before Caroline DeLisle of UCF made a fantastic stop to deny Baker.
The chances continued to come for both teams in the last five minutes, but they resulted in nothing and the game finished in a draw.
[The Tigers might feel as though they should have won the game with the chances they had in the second half.]
“Overall, proud of the response in the second half and the fight back,” Hudson said.
The Tigers are back in action this week as they travel to the west coast to take on Pepperdine on Thursday.
