Stacy Bishop scored a goal with five minutes left in the second half of Sunday’s game against Loyola (Md.) at the LSU Soccer Complex to break a scoreless tie and give the Tigers an eventual 2-0 win in the last game of the Tiger Classic II tournament.
LSU coach George Fotopoulos said he had a gut feeling Bishop was going to make a big play.
“Obviously, nobody would have known that Stacy Bishop was going to hit the 35-yard bomb, but I had a lot of confidence in her,” Fotopoulos said. “I saw the free kick happen and I pulled our normal kicker off the ball, Stephanie Keating. I put Bishop on it because … you know when you have a feeling somebody can make a difference and she did.”
Bishop scored three goals this weekend, including two goals in a 3-0 win over Birmingham Southern Friday, and was one of four Tigers chosen for the all-tournment team. Goal keeper Robyn DesOrmeaux and defensive players Tara Mitnick and Christina Best were also named to the all-tournament team.
Bishop said she had the same feeling Fotopoulos did when she kicked the go-ahead goal against Loyola on Sunday.
“I just hit it as hard as I could and hoped for the best,” Bishop said. “As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going in.”
Another goal scored by Artie Brown with 2:32 left in the ball game put on the finishing touches for the LSU victory.
Brown said the goal resulted from built-up frustration. She said the referee should have called a foul on a Loyola player when the two of them got tangled up on the baseline.
“Toward the end I was getting really aggravated,” Brown said. “The ref made a bad call in the box, I thought. That just made me really really angry. I just went for every ball and just took it to the hole and scored just to show them that they tried to take it away from me, but I’ll get it back.”
Fotopoulos said the game was all about building an attitude to never give up. He said Loyola (1-3) has made numerous appearances in the NCAA tournament and gave the Tigers (5-0) a true test on Sunday.
“This game was all about character,” Fotopoulos said. “We beat a very good team today. You’re talking about a team that’s been to the NCAA tournament four times. They’ve won the MEAC four times, and they’re going to play a lot of people and they’re going to beat a lot of people. And for us to get a victory today, I think it’s a good step forward for our program.”
Brown said the game is a stepping stone toward ranked Southeastern Conference Competition.
“People in the SEC are ranked,” Brown said. “We’re going to have to play against good teams in the SEC this season so this is just getting us prepared for what is really going to be coming (later this season).”
Fotopoulos said LSU goalkeeper Robyn DesOrmeaux also passed the test, keeping LSU in the game with five saves, including four in the first half.
“With Robyn, we’re hoping that every game she only has to make one or two big saves for us,” Fotopoulos said. “She didn’t have to do that Friday night, but she had to do that today.”
DesOrmeaux said the Tigers’ defense kept the shots on goal low with great defense.
“Four shots on goal is very minimal in a college game and I attribute that to the defense,” DesOrmeaux said. “I’m glad I was able to pull one or two good saves out of this game and keep them in (the game).”