In December 2019, LSU hired Sian Hudson to begin the task of elevating its soccer team to the next level. Hudson left her job as the head coach of the women’s soccer team at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and moved her family to Baton Rouge. Now, with all the headaches 2020 has had to offer, Hudson is just excited to have some games scheduled.
In her three years at UCCS, Hudson finished with a 52-10-4 record and led the team to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2019. Last year, an interim coached managed the Tigers, who finished with a record of 3-12-3. The team struggled to score goals and only tallied one conference win.
“Everything I do is about laying the foundation,” Hudson said. “I was really careful and considerate, when I first arrived, about my staff.”
Laura Busby will be Hudson’s assistant coach. Busby served two years as a head coach at Jacksonville University after her All-American collegiate career at West Virginia. Hudson also added Assistant Coach Seb Furness, who coached at UCCS as well. Furness, who played professionally in Iceland, will coach the defensive unit and goalkeepers while also managing recruiting and film analysis.
“Without a great staff around you, nothing is really possible,” said Hudson, the winner of the 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Award.
Hudson also brings with her several transfers from UCCS and recruits from the Colorado area. Goalkeeper Mollee Swift started 18 matches at UCCS and kept a record of 16-2, including six shutouts. Savannah Mills also transferred after scoring 16 goals in her two years at UCCS. Freshmen Jordan Johnson, Cass Romero and Bella Zanotelli were all recruited from the Colorado area.
On Sept. 9, the SEC announced that women’s soccer will play a condensed schedule of eight regular season games and a season-ending tournament in November.
Planning for the future is not easy in 2020, as a news release from Texas Tech announced that their women’s soccer match against Kansas State would be postponed when two athletes tested positive for COVID-19, and seven others were presumed to be close contacts of the positive cases.
While the NCAA has not announced a championship tournament among all conferences, it would likely take place during the fall semester.
“I think this could be looked at as an opportunity. I come from Europe, where you play year-round,” said Hudson. “I actually think this is a unique opportunity for us to look at it from a soccer model standpoint.”
Hudson also pointed out that men’s soccer teams around the NCAA have pushed for a system where teams play in both the fall and the spring semesters.
“I’m just excited in my first year with this program, to be able to go into a period of competition in both seasons because it gives me more time on the field, and in an atmosphere where I can affect change not only individually, but even in the community,” Hudson said.
In a Zoom conference call with reporters, Hudson said that senior Chiara Ritchie-Williams will be the team captain for the 2020 season, and sophomore Maddie Moreau will be vice-captain.
The team will travel to Arkansas for their first match on Sept. 19 and will play their first home game on Sept. 27, where they will match up against Ole Miss.