LSU soccer’s home match against Houston Christian on Friday is more than another postseason game. It’ll mark a historic moment in the program’s history as the team takes the pitch not just to chase a win but to push to extend a legacy.
With four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 2025 will mark a fifth for head coach Sian Hudson, the longest in LSU soccer’s history. This season has been one of momentum and belief, truly living up to the team’s mantra, ‘strike gold.’
Having 11 NCAA tournament appearances all-time, nearly half of them are attributed to Hudson after taking over the program in 2020.
She took over a program that went winless in conference play during 2019 and returned it to the NCAA tournament by her second season.
Despite the bounce-back to postseason play, the team saw a first-round exit in a shutout loss against Memphis. This would be a continuing struggle in the coming years.
Postseason success remained elusive, with the Tigers unable to progress past the tournament’s second round since.
In 2022, Hudson secured her first NCAA tournament win at LSU with a victory over Lamar, but the Tigers were knocked out in the second round by Florida State. That season also carried the most momentum the program had seen under Hudson at the time, entering tournament play on a four-game unbeaten streak before a first-round SEC Tournament exit.
Both 2023 and 2024 appeared to have similar storylines. Shaky regular-season endings and short conference championship runs led to first-round exits in the NCAA Tournament in both seasons.
Past postseason adversity is exactly what makes 2025 so different. A transformed attack and sharper, more composed presence on the pitch have framed this season not just as a step forward for the team, but a statement that LSU’s program is a top contender in the nation.
Now 13-5-4 in Hudson’s deepest SEC Tournament run yet, LSU enters the NCAA Tournament looking like its most complete and confident squad since 2018.
“This is a team that I think has set a whole new standard for LSU soccer, and off the pitch, they’ve been fantastic characters and readers,” said Hudson.
Unlike the 2018 championship team that relied on overtime advances for the conference trophy, the 2025 Tigers have sustained momentum all through the last half of their season and enter the NCAA Tournament off a run that’s never been more convincing.
Leading up to the postseason was the Tigers’ 10-game unbeaten streak that led them all the way to competing in the SEC Tournament championship for the first time with Hudson.
LSU’s 46 goals this season mark the highest scoring total under Hudson. Junior Ava Galligan has made history of her own, netting a career-high 10 goals, the highest single-season total by any player since Hudson took over in 2020.
The only thing standing between LSU and a return to the second round of the NCAA Tournament is Houston Christian, a team making its first tournament appearance since 2016.
The Huskies punched an automatic bid into the NCAA bracket after winning the Southland conference championship, but still enter as an underdog against LSU.
After the Tigers’ impressive conference tournament run, confidence is on their side against the Huskies. A win for LSU to advance to the second round is a chance for the team to push beyond the history it’s already made this year.
“I think everybody just hopes that we keep trending upwards,” Galligan said. “I think we’re happy with where we are right now. You need to stay locked in and not get complacent.”
As the Tigers prepare to host the Huskies at home on Friday night, they’ll set out to prove that this new era of LSU soccer is more than a streak; it’s the new standard.
