Ole Miss junior forward Rafaelle Souza buried a 20-yard, left-footed strike with 43 seconds to play, breaking a scoreless tie and eliminating LSU from the Southeastern Conference Tournament with a 1-0 win in Monday night’s opening round.
The Tigers (9-8-4, 5-6-2 SEC) entered the game as the league’s No. 8 seed, on a three-match win streak and harboring NCAA Tournament hopes.
Those hopes are seemingly dashed after the Rebels (13-8, 5-8) avenged a 3-2 LSU comeback win Oct. 19 in the teams’ regular season matchup.
“Our season’s done, in all likelihood,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “We would’ve been right on the edge [of the NCAA Tournament] with a win, probably last two in range.”
On an unseasonably chilly night in Orange Beach, Ala. the two teams played crisp, efficient soccer, only failing to finish near the net.
“We played in spurts the best we’ve played all year,” Lee said. “Pretty much the entire second half, I really thought we were excellent. [Ole Miss] matched it.”
Ole Miss piled up 18 shots to LSU’s 10, including seven on goal as LSU junior goalkeeper Megan Kinneman made several key saves.
But the Rebels finally converted and did so with little time to spare.
After each squad narrowly missed quality scoring looks in the final two minutes, Souza broke free near the edge of the LSU penalty box and lofted the ball just over Kinneman’s outstretched arms.
“We were trying to win the game, and [LSU junior midfielder] Alex Ramsey hit one right at their keeper with about a minute to play,” Lee said. “That chance had all of our center midfielders forward, and Ole Miss had a huge gap to work with.”
It was Souza’s 13th goal of the season, tying her for the SEC lead with teammate Mandy McCalla, who scored both Ole Miss goals in the Tigers’ regular season triumph.
“That’s just how soccer goes sometimes,” Lee said. “It can be a brutal game.”
The Rebels ended LSU’s five-game unbeaten streak in the series and will face top-seeded Florida in Wednesday’s quarterfinal match.
Freshman midfielder Fernanda Pina, 7, and University of Florida senior midfielder Erika Tymrak, 17, fight for the ball Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The Gators defeated the Tigers 2-0.
