The LSU soccer team used an impressive 7-0 victory over McNeese State Tuesday night at the LSU Soccer Complex to improve to 3-0 for the season. Junior forward Artie Brown led the team with three goals – achieving the second hat trick of her career.
“It’s the first time all season that I felt we played well,” said coach George Fotopoulos. “We utilized our strength. We have good depth as you could see with Joleen Phillips coming in. To be able to rest Artie Brown in the first half and have her come out in the second half and light it up says a lot.”
Freshman forward Stacy Bishop started the scoring for the Tigers with her sixth goal of the season as she dribbled in and scored from the right corner unassisted. With only one minute a left in the half, freshman forward Joleen Phillips came off the bench and scored off a rebound to make the score 2-0 at half.
Phillips sprained her ankle in the second day of preseason but said she feels comfortable now as is almost back at 100 percent. She ended the game with two goals giving her four for the season.
It took Brown slightly more than a minute to score after halftime. She added the next two goals and felt the team finished scoring opportunities better than in the previous two games.
“We had crosses, we had breakaways and shots from the 18 that we finished on,” Brown said.
The Tigers defense held McNeese to only three shots all game and gave no corner kick opportunities. Freshman defender Ashleigh Gunning, also coming off an injury, helped make a difference for the Tigers, according to Fotopoulos.
“She only played a half, but I think she made a big impact for us by playing in the back and giving us some stability back there,” he said.
Gunning said she believes the defense will be a strength for the Tigers this season.
“I think we did well today and will have a solid back all season,” she said.
The Tigers offense out-shot McNeese 30-3 but was caught offsides 12 times for the game. LSU has never lost to an in-state opponent under Fotopoulos as he now holds a 14-0-1 record against in-state foes.
This performance followed two weekend games in the Tiger Classic. LSU defeated Coastal Carolina with a last minute goal 2-1 Friday night and routed Jackson State 12-0 on Sunday.
Senior midfielder Stephanie Keating scored the winning goal Friday after fielding a cross from freshman forward Stacy Bishop.
“It felt great to combine on such a great play like that,” Keating said after Friday’s game. “It’s like all your hard work finally pays off.”
The Tigers out-shot Coastal Carolina 21-8 but were unable to turn the shots into goals.
“We weren’t finishing our chances,” Brown said. “We honestly should have won by four or five to nothing.”
The Tigers opened up the game against Jackson State by only scoring two in the first half, but used a record-setting second half to decimate Jackson State’s defense.
In only her second game as a Tiger, Bishop broke the LSU record for most goals in a game. Mandy Heintz and Jackie Cooper formerly held the record with four goals, but Bishop tallied five goals and quickly put her name in the LSU record book.
“I probably could have taken her out early but that four-goal record has been here a long time,” Fotopoulos said. “I felt like it would be good for the new generation of LSU players to knock it out, put their name on the platform and set the bar higher.”
The 10-goal second half set a Southeastern Conference record for most goals scored in a half, upping the previous high of eight held by Ole Miss. Twelve goals also set an LSU record for most goals in a game.