The soccer game that kicked off at 6 p.m. on Thursday night was an electric battle between the Ole Miss Rebels and LSU Tigers in Oxford, Mississippi.
The atmosphere was tense with the high pressure of the regular season coming to a close and both teams on the hunt for an important win that could help them in the conference tournament.
Knowing that a loss to the Rebels would substantially hurt them on their road to Pensacola, the Tigers put out a set-piece masterclass, allowing them to boost their record with a win over Ole Miss.
Dressed in all gold for the matchup, the Tigers set out on the first half with a relatively calmer performance in comparison to most of the SEC play this season, especially after the momentous battle that was previously seen against Texas A&M.
Quiet play and minimal physicality took over the first 20 minutes, and there was little offensive aggression from both sides as both looked for an attack to light the game’s spark.
As a team that has struggled to find its identity in SEC play, the Rebels seemed to be focused on defending against the more controlled Tiger offense.
Getting deeper into half was when things started to heat up. A scramble inside the penalty box saw the first scoring chance for LSU.
The last minute cross from Sariyah Bailey to Ava Galligan came close to seeing the net, but an offsides call saved the Rebels.
The desperate Ole Miss team pushed to apply more pressure on the composed LSU team. A save by the Rebels’ goalie Sidney O’Billovich tipped a shot by Kelsey Major over the crossbar to result in what would be the turning point of the game.
As they set up to take the first corner kick of the game 32 minutes in, an excellently placed ball by Ida Hermannsdottir found Gabbi Ceballos who successfully snuck the ball into the back of the net off a header.
The action didn’t stop there, however. Immediately following the Tiger goal was the substitution of Amy Smith for Major, and just 90 seconds later was another corner kick for LSU.
Hermannsdottir once again stepped up for the corner, sending in a ball that Smith met with her first touch of the game to head it past O’Billovich and give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
As they finished out the half with strong defense against the Rebels, LSU headed into the locker room with a comfortable lead on Ole Miss.
Upon the return of the second half, play continued on the same trend as the former one. A bit more of a cutthroat mentality from the Tigers and desperation from the Rebels allowed for both teams to gather a handful of fouls combined as physicality intensified.
Just 10 minutes into the half, senior defender Jocelyn Ollivierre received a yellow card for unsporting behavior, but that didn’t keep LSU from applying pressure.
Back and forth bouts over the ball continued until Hermannsdottir found herself at the other end of a cross from Galligan to whip a shot past O’Billovich into the bottom right corner of the net, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead over Ole Miss.
With another added insurance goal, the Tigers pushed on, but just five minutes later, the Rebels received their first lifeline in the game.
With a penalty on Jazmin Ferguson, Ole Miss was rewarded with a penalty kick, and a clean shot by Sarah Granno put the Rebels on the board, making the game 3-1.
Fresh off the goal, the Rebels momentum was cut short as junior forward Kate Smith was downed with just 12 minutes left in the game. Being carried off to the sideline, the already thinned-out Mississippi team looked at this added challenge in disheartenment as the clock honed in on them.
Even so, LSU refused to hold back. Continuing to carry the team’s momentum through to the last seconds of the game, Smith found herself in front of the net following a cross pass to tap the ball past O’Billovich for her second goal of the night.
With the clock striking zero shortly after, the Rebels from Oxford accepted their defeat in a painful loss to the Tigers of Baton Rouge.
Standout performances by Hermannsdottir and Smith helped to extend LSU’s conference record to 4-2-2 and gain a second consecutive win with a final score of 4-1.
As a team that capitalized on set-pieces to set the tone of the match, the Tigers secured their trip to the beach and will potentially eliminate Ole Miss from playoff contention.
LSU will head back home to Baton Rouge for its second-to-last regular season game in a Sunday afternoon matchup against Kentucky at 1 p.m. where it will look to extend its win streak to three.
