LSU soccer entered Tuesday’s SEC quarterfinal game on an eight-game unbeaten streak and only looked stronger after taking down the Tennessee Volunteers 2-0.
The Tigers earned their first top-25 national ranking since 2021 and avenged their most recent loss, which occurred in Knoxville all the way back on Sept. 21. LSU looked like a totally different team in the rematch.
In Pensacola, Tennessee came out of the gate hot. Two shots in the third minute were off target, but kept LSU goalkeeper Audur Scheving on her heels. Early on, Tennessee was in control as LSU was liable to give the ball away.
LSU managed to get its first shot with just under 10 minutes off the clock when Gabbi Ceballos missed high. Shots off target were the story of the first half for both teams.
While both defenses played as tough barriers, shooters kept missing the net when they had the chance. The first shot on goal of the game came from Ava Galligan and LSU in the 27th minute.
Senior defender Jazmin Ferguson, who played all 90 minutes in the match, delivered a far rainbow pass that perfectly found Galligan in stride. The forward headed the ball but sent it into the hands of the diving Cayden Norris.
Tennessee’s first shot on target was only sent with four minutes left until the halftime break. Reese Mattern curved the ball to the left side of the goal, but Scheving was there to corral the ball.
The half wouldn’t end in a whisper. The Volunteers had one more opportunity in the closing 10 seconds, but Skylar Miller sent her shot wide right. Tennessee went into the break leading the shot counter 7-5, and 45 minutes remained to decide which would extend their stay at the beach.
The LSU offense made the decision for themselves.
Sariyah Bailey got the ball less than a minute into the half and fired it in stride to Morgan Witz, who shot against the leftward momentum of Norris and snuck it past her extended fingers. It was LSU’s first goal against Tennessee this year that wasn’t a penalty kick.
Only two minutes removed from the tie-breaking goal, Ida Hermannsdottir initiated a game of pinball that saw possession transfer to Bailey, then to Galligan, before the order reversed itself. Galligan’s pass in went off Norris’ hand, another defender and Bailey. It popped out in front of Hermannsdottir, who put it in the back of the net.
The Tigers led 2-0. Norris and the Volunteers looked like they had just seen a ghost.
Four fouls in the next three minutes eventually gave way to an LSU free kick in which Hermannsdottir almost added another goal to her count. It bounced in front of the goal, but she didn’t have the footing to gain power on her shot, which was easily saved by Norris.
While LSU was in control of the scoreboard, Tennessee continued to find shots to try to cut the deficit. Even with five corner kicks, they couldn’t get a shot that challenged Scheving.
In the 63rd minute, Tennessee was playing a game of inches with the LSU net. A swift three-person passing play saw Jenna Stayart’s shot force Scheving to dive to her left to block it. The ball came out to Mattern, who got far under the ball like she was chipping out of a sand trap, and sent it way above the goal.
With the game winding down, Tennessee had its back against the wall and began a push.
Miller took a shot with 11 minutes and change left that made Scheving dive, but missed to the top right of the goal. Two minutes later, a Volunteer corner kick had to be caught almost on top of the goal line by Scheving to prevent a header or it curving in on its own.
An 83rd-minute save followed by a clutch clear from Sydney Cheesman ended the last two solid attempts from Tennessee. Despite winning the shot battle 18-13, the Volunteers would lose their one and only game of this year’s SEC Tournament.
For the first time since 2018, LSU advances to the semifinals. Seven years ago, No. 7 LSU went on to become the lowest-seeded team to ever win the tournament.
On Thursday afternoon, the Tigers will face off against the No. 8 Bulldogs of Mississippi State, who upset top-seeded Arkansas right before LSU took the pitch.
Vanderbilt and Georgia are the two remaining teams on the other side of the bracket. LSU tied them both earlier this year.
The red-hot Tigers are cruising into Thursday’s semifinals. where they look to move on to the championship game for the first time since they won it.
