LSU defeated Indiana University, 4-0, in its final game of the Stomp in the Swamp tournament Sunday behind two goals apiece from sophomore forward Jorian Baucom and junior forward Summer Clarke.
LSU (4-0-2, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) entered the match today hoping to improve its fortunes after tying Ball State University in its first game of the weekend. The Tigers’ win over the Hoosiers gave coach Brian Lee his 250th career win in 21 seasons as a head coach at both Furman University and LSU.
Indiana (3-2-1) was coming off a 2-1 win against Middle Tennessee State University in the first game of the tournament. The Hoosiers came into the match with 457 consecutive minutes of play without allowing a goal. They last conceded a goal in a 2-1 loss against No. 13 Virginia Tech University on Aug. 21.
Clarke was aggressive early, making an effort to test Indiana’s senior goalkeeper Sarah Stone. In the 6th minute, Clarke fired a right-footed goal into the bottom left corner from just outside the penalty box to put the Tigers up 1-0.
“One of our team goals was to start fast,” Clarke said. “We had watched film on them and we noticed that they gave the forwards a lot of time to turn so our coaches told us to take advantage of that and that’s what I wanted to do.”
Clarke found the net again two minutes later after instinctively detecting a loose ball that made its way into the box after a couple headers from sophomore defender Jordane Carvery and senior midfielder Heather Magee.
Indiana struggled to find a rhythm defensively after Clarke netted two goals in the first 10 minutes of action. Even when the Hoosiers managed to clear balls from the box, there was a Tiger player on the perimeter of the box waiting to play the ball back into a dangerous position.
Baucom netted her fifth goal of the season by way of a penalty kick after Indiana was assessed a hand-ball penalty in the 23rd minute.
The Tigers converted on their first three shots on goal and went to halftime with a 3-0 lead.
The Hoosiers came out of the half energetic and put pressure on the Tigers’ defense early, but LSU held its own and managed to stifle the Hoosiers’ early attempts on goal.
The LSU backline, anchored by senior defender Alex Arlitt, played at a high level all game. Arlitt said that even though they played with a comfortable lead all game, they did not let their intensity falter.
“Whenever you get up like that, it’s easy to relax your mentality,” Arlitt said. “That’s one of the things the team has gotten really good at this year, our killer instinct and winning mentality.”
LSU tacked on another goal in the 50th minute after Summer Clarke facilitated a tactical through-ball to split the defense allowing Baucom to finish with her left foot for her second goal of the game.
Indiana has already defeated Missouri, which is one of LSU’s SEC opponents. The LSU coaching staff said that the game today was an important one when looking ahead to SEC play. The Tigers will start their SEC campaign this Friday against the University of Alabama.
“To come out and play that well, be that good in attack and stay that organized in defense for a full 90 minutes was a really positive performance heading into SEC play,” Lee said.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Javier Fernández

LSU junior forward Summer Clarke (4) dribbles past Indiana’s junior defender Marissa Borschke during the Tigers' 4-0 victory over the Hoosiers’ on Sunday, Sept. 09, 2015 at the LSU Soccer Stadium.