The LSU soccer team won its first Southeastern Conference Championship in its 23-year history after an improbable run as a No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament, capped off with a penalty kick shootout victory over the No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Tigers started their journey in the first round against the No. 10 seed Missouri and won in dramatic fashion with a goal in second overtime by senior utility player Alex Thomas, who completed her hat trick with the goal.
Next up for the Tigers was No. 2 Tennessee, and the dramatics continued as the game was forced into overtime after Tennessee netted an equalizing goal in the 88th minute. Two overtimes did not see a game winner, and so the game went to penalty kicks.
The Tigers battled through eight rounds of penalties finally scoring the game winner in the ninth, by way of freshman Meghan Johnson, who only had five previous appearances.
The Tigers would then face a team they had just beaten in the regular season, the sixth-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks, who upset the No. 3 seed Texas A&M Aggies to reach the semifinal. Freshman Shannon Cooke scored her first career goal for the Tigers early in the second half, and it was enough to send the Tigers through to the final in a matchup against the Hogs.
Arkansas scored early in the first half to take the lead and held onto the lead until the 72nd minute when Cooke scored what has to be considered the goal of the tournament and season for the Tigers as she took a shot from about 40 yards out, beating the Razorback keeper in the top right corner of the goal to even the score. 
The score stayed 1-1 through regulation, and was sent to overtime. Two 10-minute periods couldn’t produce a game-winning goal, and the final would be decided by penalties.
The Hogs’ first shot was saved by senior goalkeeper Caroline Brockmeier, and their second bounced off the left post and away from the goal. The Tigers made their first three, and so Arkansas would need to make the four remaining shots, and save the LSU’s last three. The Razorbacks made their third, but freshman forward Abbey Newton stroked her shot just to the right side of the goal to win the championship for the Tigers.
LSU are now prime candidates to host their first round game in the NCAA Tournament and even have a shot at a national seed. The Tigers will find out who and where they will play their first round game Nov. 5 during the NCAA selection show.