PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 11th-seeded LSU Soccer team (9-8-3, 4-6-2 SEC) fell to the third-seeded Texas Longhorns (14-3-2, 7-3-1 SEC) in the quarterfinals of the 2024 SEC Tournament by a score of 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex.
With the result on the day, LSU ends their beach trip with their longest run in the tournament since 2021.
“I thought we were the ascending team early on and we started the second half really well, but we just couldn’t find our moment,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “We tried to fight back. Amy Smith had a great shot that hit the post, and if that were to go in, it would’ve been a different story. We had a couple of good moments in the box, but we just didn’t really get that piece of luck that we needed to get back in the game. All credit to Texas. They have two of the best players in the country in Lexi Messimo and Amalia Villareall and they were the difference makers for them today.”
“In recent weeks we’ve shown the ability in our last four or five games in the SEC that we can compete with anyone. We just have to hope now that we get a berth into the national tournament and an opportunity to live another day.”
The first half was a back and forth battle with neither team able to find a breakthrough in the first period of action. LSU managed to get two shots on goal from both Jazmin Ferguson and Riley MacDonald, while goalkeeper Sophine Kevorkian made one save. It was scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
Texas came out of the locker room and scored two goals in two minutes early in the second half. The scorers for the Longhorns were Amalia Villareall (55’) and Holly Ward (57’). Ward’s goal was assisted by Lexi Missimo.
The Tigers’ best chance of the second half came via Amy Smith, who hit the right goal post with a blistering shot late in the period.
Holly Ward added a third goal for the Longhorns and her second goal of the match in the 86th minute.
The Tigers finished the match with 12 shots compared to 21 from the Longhorns. Kevorkian finished the match with two saves in between the posts for LSU.
LSU will now return home to Baton Rouge and wait to see if they will be awarded a berth to the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. The selection show will take place on Monday, November 11th, at 3:00 p.m. CT. The show will be broadcast live on NCAA.com.
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