After facing an early deficit, the LSU soccer team came from behind to defeat Western Kentucky, 4-1, at the LSU Soccer Stadium on Friday night.
LSU (2-0-1, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) found itself trailing seven minutes into the game and had trouble getting off shots throughout the first half, but scored four second-half goals for its first win at home this season.
“We feel good about this result,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “Western Kentucky is a good team, and we didn’t play as well as we wanted to in the first half. We had to make a few adjustments for the second half, but everyone was calm and we executed the game plan really well.”
Junior forward Iris Dunn opened the scoring for the Hilltoppers, putting a header just over the fingertips of LSU goalkeeper Catalina Rubiano, who came up to try to punch the ball out the box. The goal came off of a lob pass by sophomore defender Nahyo Jalajel, who launched the assist off a free kick from near the mid-field line.
LSU had only three shots and one shot on goal in the first half. The Tigers maintained control of the ball but struggled to get behind Western Kentucky’s defenders.
Senior midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco almost scored an impressive goal from well outside the box with 34 minutes left in the first half but had her shot go off the crossbar. She also put a free kick on target with 8 seconds left in the first half, but sophomore goalkeeper Allison Leone made an acrobatic save to secure Western Kentucky’s 1-0 halftime lead.
However, the Tigers would rally in the second half.
LSU came out of the locker room aggressively, and freshman forward Gabriela Maldonado scored the equalizer less than two minutes into the second half. Maldonado drilled the ball into the bottom corner for her first goal as a Tiger after controlling a corner kick.
Gomez-Junco, LSU’s assist leader from last season, got her first assist of 2015 on Maldonado’s goal. She said the win was important for the team after its tie against Northwestern State on Tuesday night.
“We feel great,” Junco said. “Coming out here to our great crowd tonight and getting all those goals in the second half was special. We had a bitter taste after our home opener, and tonight we improved and played better soccer. We deserved this win.”
Sophomore forward Debbie Hahn put the Tigers ahead with 32 minutes remaining in the second half. Hahn scored her first goal of the season after a series of touch passes from Gomez-Junco and sophomore midfielder Jorian Baucom.
Baucum added another goal for LSU with 28 minutes remaining. She controlled a pass from senior midfielder Heather Magee and put it inside the near post from just inside the box for her team-leading second goal of the season.
Senior midfielder Fernanda Pina came off the bench late in the game to score her first goal of the season with 17 minutes remaining. Pina took advantage of an error by Leone, who had the ball taken away from her feet instead of picking it up.
LSU will be back in action Sunday, when it takes on Minnesota at 1 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Stadium.