The LSU Tigers (10-6-1, 4-4-1 Southeastern Conference) got a very valuable three points after some late game heroics from sophomore defender Lucy Parker to down No. 8 South Carolina (12-3-1, 6-2-1 SEC) in the final home game of the season.
The Gamecocks stayed on the attack for the majority of the first 45 minutes, not allowing the Tigers to possess the ball like they would want to against a trapping, high-pressure Gamecock front line.
The Tigers weren’t able to get a shot on goal in the first half, which would have been a truly remarkable feat considering South Carolina hasn’t given up a goal in the first half all season. While the Tigers weren’t able to get a shot on goal, their defense was able to hold the Gamecocks to only two shots on goal.
“We talk a lot about toughness, grit, perseverance, persistence, and I thought today was a great example of it, a ton of people came through in the toughest moments,” said LSU coach Brian Lee.
The game remained scoreless until the second half, when in the 65th minute a Gamecocks attacker dribbled the ball into the box and drew a penalty after she was brought down from behind. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Chang stepped up to the spot and senior keeper Caroline Brockmeier guessed the wrong way, allowing Chang to pass the ball to the right side of the net.
It seemed that all the momentum was in favor of South Carolina, but the Tigers kept pressing, not showing any signs of defeat, and didn’t quit in the last minutes of the game.
With just one minute left in regulation, the Tigers put almost all of their players forward. Freshman defender Shannon Cooke sent a ball in from the left side of the field from about 50 yards out and was able to find Parker on the right side of the box, who showed great technical ability to chest the pass, take a shot off the volley and rifle the ball across the Gamecock keeper into the side netting.
Parker has shown her scoring ability all year with three goals on the season, even as she’s played center back in all 17 games.
“We think Lucy has gone from being a very good SEC player to one of the very best players in the country … she’s trained really hard every day this year, and you’re starting to see that pay off,” Lee said.
With the game tied 1-1 and headed to overtime, the Tigers held all of the momentum as they were able to steal the victory from the Gamecocks. Parker mentioned Lee saying something similar to that before the match started.
“Coach [Lee] gave us a pregame talk and told us an analogy about this game being like crossing a river, and that we would need to ‘burn the boats, and steal theirs if we have to,’ and it was crazy because that’s essentially what we did in those last few minutes,” Parker said.
And yet, there was still a game to be finished, and in the first 10-minute overtime period, the Tigers controlled the majority of it, but neither side had any significant chances on goal.
It wasn’t until five minutes into the second overtime period that things changed, when the ball was laid off to Parker in the middle of the field about 30 yards out. Parker, without taking a touch, ripped a curling shot to the Gamecock keeper’s left, and she could only helplessly dive towards the ball as it nestled into the top left corner of the net, ending the game.
“After I hit it, I knew I had hit it well. I watched it hit the back of the net, and it was just pure relief,” Parker said.
The Tigers now head into their last regular season SEC game in a tie for sixth in the league standings, almost certainly a lock for the SEC Tournament, and improve their chances to make the NCAA Tournament with every game they play.
The Tigers will travel to Starkville for the season finale to square off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-4-2, 2-4-2 SEC) with a 7 p.m. start time on SEC+ network.