Defense wins championships — but a little offense never hurts, either.Six different LSU players scored in the Southeastern Conference’s opening weekend as the Tigers outscored their opponents, 11-1, with freshman Carlie Banks scoring a hat trick.LSU (6-2-2, 2-0-0) kept up its intensity against Tennessee (5-4-1, 1-1-0) on Sunday after pummeling then-undefeated No. 8 Georgia (8-1-1, 1-1-0) on Friday.The Tigers led the entire way against the Volunteers in a dominating 5-1 victory.Senior forward Rachel Yepez put two early scores on the board to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead within the first 10 minutes of the game.”The second one I was actually looking to cross it, and it kind of deflected off the defender, and I just finished it,” Yepez said.LSU coach Brian Lee had high praise for his forward who now has five goals this season.”Rachel’s really, really important,” Lee said. “She’s kind of the heart and soul of our team.”Sophomore forward and midfielder Kellie Murphy recorded her first goal of the year on a header off a perfect cross from senior midfielder Malorie Rutledge.Rutledge notched a goal of her own, going coast-to-coast cutting through the defense to give LSU a whopping 4-0 lead going into the half.Tensions rose continuously throughout the second half as two yellow cards were issued against Tennessee.LSU sophomore midfielder Allysha Chapman left the game after falling to the ground on a slide tackle.”If the game was closer, she could have gone back in,” Lee said. “She tweaked her ankle.”A bullet by Tennessee senior midfielder Mick Imgram on a free kick cut the score to 4-1, but LSU answered back with a goal by freshman forward Tricia Johnson who had an open net off the rebound of Rutledge’s shot.Yepez had a hat trick attempt foiled by a Tennessee defender’s block in the waning minutes of the game.But Banks managed to get a season-first hat trick Friday in a 6-0 blowout win against the Bulldogs. “I’m not a big fan of Georgia,” said Banks, a Peachtree City, Ga., native. “I’ve played against all these girls all my life, so I just wanted to prove something.”Banks fired the first goal off a cross by Yepez within the first three minutes of the game. Her second came off the sliding rebound of a shot by Rutledge, and the score was 2-0 at halftime.”Carlie is a good player who depends on our team to play well in nice fluid movement and getting crosses and things like that to get goals,” Lee said.LSU didn’t let up as Yepez notched the next goal for LSU. Banks then completed her hat trick on a shot inside the box. Johnson and sophomore midfielder Taryne Boudreau both scored to cap the 6-0 win. Johnson’s two goals this weekend were her first two as a Tiger.”Brian was expecting a lot, especially from the seniors,” Yepez said. “It’s great, and it’s really exciting to have freshmen step up and score goals. It makes us even more dangerous.”Georgia hadn’t given up more than two goals all season, and LSU kept Georgia’s all-time leading scorer, senior forward Carrie Patterson, scoreless.But Lee felt the team could have scored more.”You always want to get better,” he said. “You score six on Friday, you kind of feel like you could have had seven or eight.”Lee isn’t satisfied yet despite the team’s success this weekend.”We’ve got a long, long way to go in the SEC season,” Lee said.Senior midfielder Melissa Clarke was questionable going into the weekend but played both games and had two shots against Georgia.—-Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]