Going into the season, the Tigers soccer team had many question marks surrounding its ability to input new players into their system. With many incoming freshmen and inexperienced upperclassmen gaining significant playing time, it left the Tigers with a lot of grey areas.
Junior goalkeeper Emma Grace Goldman, sophomore forward Meghan Johnson and freshman midfielder Maddie Moreau are among the Tigers who have earned their first-career starts this season, helping lead the Tigers to a 2-3-1 record to this point. But how have they fared in each of their matches?
Moreau, a midfielder from Youngsville, Louisiana, came into LSU as one of the more talented recruits for the Tigers. Moreau was named Louisiana’s 2018-2019 Gatorade Girls Player of the Year after leading St. Thomas More to back-to-back state title matches in 2018 and 2019.
While at St. Thomas More, she scored a steller 72 goals and registered 44 assists. Since arriving at LSU, she has continued right where she left off. Though the stats don’t show it, Moreau has lent a helping hand to the Tigers offense, helping create an abundance of opportunities on the offensive side of the ball.
“It has been amazing so far, I have loved every second of it,” Moreau said. “I need to work more on the tactical stuff more and focus on the game of soccer itself.”
Goldman has arguably made the biggest contribution of the newcomers. Although she is a junior, she earned her first-career start this season after patiently waiting behind former Tigers keeper Caroline Brockmeier. 
During the earlier games of the season, Goldman has been a rock for the Tigers in the goal. Goldman has played a total of 525 minutes this season and is allowing 1.5 goals per match. She has 39 saves and an 81% save percentage.
“It’s definitely an adjustment that I had to make,” Goldman said. “You just have to stay mentally prepared.”
Johnson, a Baton Rouge native, is a talented scoring forward from St. Joseph’s Academy, where she was a four-time district champion and all-district first team selection from 2015-18.
In the first quarter of the season for the Tigers, Johnson has already tripled her shot production from 2018 and is sitting at six, three of which were on goal through six games of play. 
Johnson has accounted for one goal this season – her first-career goal that was registered as a game winner. It lifted the Tigers to its first victory of the season against Navy in double overtime.
“It’s been a dream to start for LSU,” Johnson said. “I have been striving for this since I was little.”