Sophomore forward Jorian Baucom ascended to the top of the NCAA charts with her nation-leading eighth goal of the season to help LSU defeat No. 15 Duke University, 1-0, in its Sunday afternoon nonconference match.
The Blue Devils (5-1-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) were coming off a win against Samford University on Friday night, while LSU (5-1-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) was tasked with avenging its 1-0 loss to the Blue Devils a year ago.
The Tigers lost their SEC opener against the University of Alabama after conceding a golden goal in the 102nd minute of play on Friday night.
The Blue Devils brought physicality intrinsic to ACC play to the pitch early in the game, committing seven fouls in the first half. The match became even more chippy in the second half as the teams combined for 23 fouls with two resulting in a yellow card for each team.
The match got off to a slow start as Duke landed the first half’s only shot on goal.
The Tigers were forced to play without their senior leader, defender Alex Arlitt, who was assessed a red-card in the team’s last game. Senior defender Gracie Campbell stepped in to help the LSU back line, which relied on Arlitt’s communication all year.
The back line played well all game despite the loss of Arlitt. It held the Blue Devils scoreless for only the second time all season and LSU coach Brian Lee said he was pleased with the way his team responded to the loss of Arlitt.
“I thought the whole team stepped up for Arlitt,” Lee said. “She’s arguably our best player and has a huge impact on the team. Her communication and leadership is probably the biggest thing she brings to us. We asked everybody to step up and do their part and cover for her while she was out. Our communication was probably the best it’s been all year.”
LSU’s best chance to score came early in the first half when Duke committed a hand-ball violation in the box resulting in a penalty kick for the Tigers. However, Baucom’s penalty kick in the 13th minute went off the post.
Baucom got another shot to break the tie in the 74th minute of play after she was tripped in the box by a Duke defender. Baucom netted her team leading eighth goal of the season on her second penalty kick attempt of the game to give LSU a one goal lead.
The Tigers made a key move on defense to protect their lead by moving junior forward Summer Clarke to the back line. Duke moved junior defender Christina Gibbons to the right wing in hopes of finding the equalizer. Lee said moving Clarke to the backline was something that his team was ready for.
“That’s always the plan all along,” Lee said. “Summer is a fantastic attacking player but first and foremost she’s a really good soccer player and a very good athlete. I feel like we can put her anywhere and she’ll be fantastic.”
Gibbonsand the Blue Devils found the equalizer in the 79th minute but they were called offsides. The Tigers held on to their lead late in the game behind a sprawled-out save by senior goalkeeper Catalina Rubiano in the 89th minute. Rubiano dove to her left to save Duke’s final shot of the game, sealing LSU’s victory.
“We wanted this win so bad,” Rubiano said. “I put my body behind it and did everything I could to get it.”