After a subpar performance in its home opener, the LSU soccer team will look for its first home win of the season when it hosts Western Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
The game will be the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and the Hilltoppers. It will be preceded by a matchup at 5 p.m. between Stephen F. Austin and Minnesota, which are in town for the “Battle on the Bayou” tournament.
LSU (1-0-1, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) tied Northwestern State, a team it defeated 6-2 last season, 1-1, Tuesday night.
After scoring the first goal, the Tigers began to play more conservatively, and the Demons took advantage, scoring on a breakaway to tie the game for good in the 83rd minute. LSU had several scoring opportunities throughout the game and late in the second overtime but was unable to convert.
LSU sophomore forward Jorian Baucom said the Tigers came in overconfident and hope to avoid making the same mistake the rest of the season, beginning with the next game.
“It’s just the game of soccer — you win some and you lose some,” Baucom said, who had a penalty kick saved and a shot hit the post against Northwestern State. “We have to step up to play, and we definitely won’t be starting a game like that ever again.”
Senior midfielder Fernanda Piña also had a chance to win the game for LSU on Tuesday when Northwestern’s goalkeeper left the box and whiffed on the ball late in the second overtime, but she missed an empty net high and wide.
It wasn’t all bad for LSU, however, as freshman defender Alex Thomas scored her first goal as a Tiger. Thomas, the 2014 and 2015 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, enters Friday’s game tied for the team lead in goals with star strikers Baucom and junior Summer Clarke.
LSU soccer coach Brian Lee said his team is ready for a productive weekend. “This is an event we’re very excited to host with three great programs coming in for an exciting weekend of college soccer,” Lee said in a news release. “We’ve had some really great weather all week, which is giving us a great week of preparation ahead of Friday night. We’re expecting more of the same over the weekend, so fans should come out and watch some high-level college soccer.”
After Friday night’s game, LSU will play Minnesota at 1 p.m. Sunday at the LSU Soccer Stadium to wrap up the tournament.