The No. 24 LSU soccer team has been playing the elite teams of the Southeastern Conference the past few weekends, proving to the rest of the league they are legitimate contenders in the conference championship race.
LSU (10-2-5, 4-1-3) competed against lesser competition this weekend than in recent weeks and recorded another unbeaten weekend, defeating Vanderbilt (4-8-2, 1-4-1) 2-0 Friday before tying Kentucky, 1-1 Sunday.
Kentucky (7-6-3, 1-6-1) controlled the first half of play, outshooting LSU, 11-6 and taking a 1-0 advantage in the 18th minute on a goal from senior forward Kate Rowlands.
The goal was Rowlands’ first of her senior season.
The LSU offensive attack got more scoring opportunities in the second half, sending the game into overtime with a header goal in the 60th minute by freshman midfielder Taryne Boudreau, assisted by sophomore midfielder Malorie Rutledge and junior forward Roslyn Jones.
The tying goal was Boudreau’s third goal of the season.
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the overtime periods, but LSU senior goalkeeper Valerie Vogler and Kentucky freshman goalkeeper Sydney Hiance kept the shots out of the net, ending the match with a tie.
Kentucky coach Warren Lipka said his team is playing its best soccer of the season right now, but it may be too late to make the conference tournament following a 0-6 start to SEC play.
“The girls are playing hard and smart, but we’re not getting rewarded on the attacking side,” Lipka said in a news release.
LSU coach Brian Lee said the Wildcats will be a dangerous opponent to play for the remainder of the season.
“Kentucky is a good team that is much like Vanderbilt in that the results just haven’t fallen their way in the league this year,” Lee said.
LSU controlled the tempo of the match for most of the day Friday in a 2-0 victory against Vanderbilt.
“We feel good about the result, but more importantly, we played really well for 90 minutes,” Lee said. “Vanderbilt is a good team that just hasn’t had the results fall their way.”
Sophomore Michelle Makasini scored LSU’s first goal of the game in the 17th minute. This was her eighth goal of the season.
Sophomore forward Rachel Yepez gave the Tigers an insurance goal early in the second half, scoring from inside the penalty area. The shot was assisted by Jones and Rutledge.
The goal was an SEC-best 11th on the season for the Fayetteville, N.C., native.
Lee said getting an extra goal was important for his team to get a larger margin of error against the Commodores.
“Getting a second goal is huge for the momentum of the game,” Lee said. “It was important for us to get a little breathing room.”
LSU dominated the pace of the match, outshooting Vanderbilt, 24-17. Vogler made five saves to record her seventh shutout of the season.
“[Vogler] made two really class saves tonight to keep the shutout and did a great job of keeping our back line organized down the stretch,” Lee said. “That’s something that she’s done all year long. She’s really had a great senior season this year.”
—Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]