Despite putting up an impressive fight against the preseason favorite, the Arkansas Razorbacks, LSU suffered a 2-0 loss in Fayetteville.
The team kept possession of the ball during most of the first half of the match, attempting three shots on goal. Shannon Cooke created a few opportunities during the first half, but the team wasn’t able to capitalize. Another opportunity presented itself in the final minutes of the match when Maddie Moreau gave a through-ball to Jordan Johnson whose shots was blocked by Taylor Beltz.
“We were able to create four to five big chances that we didn’t capitalize on. If we score one or two of those chances we had in the first half, I think
it shifts the game in a big way,” Head Coach Sian Hudson told lsusports.net. “It was great for us to finally get a chance to compete with somebody besides ourselves. There were plenty of positive signs in terms of fight, belief and playing our style of soccer here at LSU.”
Arkansas struck first in the 35th minute when Reagan Swindall capatliazed on a free kick from near midfield. The Razorbacks increased their lead
in the 56th minute.
Goalkeeper Mollee Swift made her debut at LSU. Swift registered seven saves during the match. Diwure-Soale, Jordan Johnson, Savannah Mills and Taylor Dobles also played their first match.
“Overall I was really pleased with our performance today,” Hudson told lsusports.net. “Arkansas is a team that poses a lot of hard questions in terms of the way they press and put balls into the box. I thought we built out of the back well at times, stretched them defensively and competed well in the aerial battle.
Despite the loss, the Tigers are looking forward to coming back home and playing against Ole Miss at 1:00 CST on Sept. 27.