<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2DFe7i_0vjr17iM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2DFe7i_0vjr17iM00" width="1920" height="1080" ></figure>BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Soccer Team (6-3-1, 1-1-0 SEC) will welcome Oklahoma (8-2, 1-1-0 SEC) to the LSU Soccer Stadium for their first conference matchup Thursday, September 26 at 6 p.m. CT.“We’re really excited for the matchup with Oklahoma. This is obviously the first time we’re playing them within the SEC, so we certainly want to give them a welcome not only to the conference, but to Baton Rouge,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “I have a lot of respect for Matt (Mott). We’re going to have to be very organized and very combative on defense. I think we have some really good matchups in this game. Andrea Iljkic is on fire with her free kicks right now, along with Sydney Cheesman in set pieces. For us, this match will be about continuing to build on our defensive unit and shape and use the momentum from our last win.”The competition between the Tigers and the Sooners will be streamed on SECN+. The watch link and live stats link can be found here. PromotionsSunday night’s match will be in honor of pediatric cancer. The LSU Soccer Team went and visited Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital this week in support. Other promotions for Thursday’s match include free LSU Soccer croc gibbets to the first 400 fans to arrive, as well as two dollar hotdogs. Gates to the soccer stadium will open at 5 p.m. CT. All match-by-match promotions for the year can be found here.The OpponentLSU holds the 5-0-1 series record over Oklahoma, with the last competition being in 2012, when the Tigers came out victorious by a score of 1-0 after a double overtime battle. Thursday’s competition marks the first time the two teams will face off since Oklahoma has joined the SEC.OU earned its first-ever SEC win on Sunday with a 2-1 road result at Texas A&amp;M. Ella Pappas and Michelle Pak each scored a goal while Caroline Duffy made five saves on six shots.The Sooners are receiving votes for the third straight week in the U.S. Soccer Coaches poll, marking the first time OU has done so since weeks 1-3 of the 2019 season.The Sooners are off to a 8-2-0 start to the 2024 season and are tied for sixth in the SEC standings with three conference points.The Sooners have tallied 29 goals, 23 assists, 173 shots and 81 points through 10 matches.Oklahoma’s defense impressed in non-conference play, limiting opponents to just five goals on 5.00 shots per match. Tiger NotablesLSU recorded their first conference win of the year against Ole Miss last Sunday, all while keeping a clean sheet.The Tigers are 6-3-1 (1-1-0 SEC) on the year and have marked wins over South Alabama (3-0), UMass Lowell (W, 3-0), Old Dominion (2-1), UL-Lafayette (3-1), San Francisco (4-1) and Ole Miss (1-0), a draw against Utah (1-1) and losses to Arizona State (5-2), UC Davis (3-4) and Arkansas (0-1).LSU has scored 22 goals so far this year as Ida Hermannsdottir, Mollie Baker, Jazmin Ferguson, Angelina Thoreson, Ava Galligan, Andrea Iljkic, Amy Smith, Kelsey Major, Sage Glover, Gabbi Ceballos and Danielle Shannon have found themselves on the scoresheet. On that same note, LSU has seen 11 different goal scorers through the regular season so far, with four players scoring the firsts of their career. Ferguson, Ceballos , Iljkic and Shannon have all scored their first career goals at LSU this season. Hermannsdottir leads the team with six goals on the year, while Ava Galligan and Andrea Iljkic follow with three each.The Tigers have recorded 15 assists across eight different players so far this year, with junior Sydney Cheesman leading the way. The UNC transfer has been pivotal in set pieces for LSU, recording a team high four assists on the year.Overall, LSU has taken 183 shots on the year, with 83 of those being on target. Galligan leads the way with 28 shot attempts, while Baker, Hermannsdottir, Glover, Shannon and Smith have all tallied 10 or more shots on the year. Hermannsdottir leads the team with shots on target with 15.Galligan, Hermannsdottir and Cheesman all rank amongst the top 10 players in the SEC in shots, goals and assists, respectively. Scheving’s 24 saves also place in the top-10. Overall, LSU sits in sixth in the conference with three points, along with Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas A&amp;M. The Tigers rank in the top-10 in the SEC in shots, goals and assists. LSU has taken the fourth-most shots by any team in the conference so far this season.The Tigers have outshot their opponents in all but three matches, recording roughly 18 shots per game compared to 8 from their opponents.Scheving, the sophomore from Iceland who is in her first year with the Tigers, has started in between the posts for the Tigers in every match thus far. She has recorded 24 saves and three shutouts.Hermannsdottir, Cheesman, Glover, Shannon and Scheving are the only players to start in every match for LSU this year.Last Time On The PitchThe Tigers captured their first SEC win of the season on Sunday as they defeated Ole Miss by a score of 1-0 at the LSU Soccer Stadium. LSU was in control for the majority of the match, as they put up 22 shots, with 10 of them being on goal, in comparison to the Rebels’ six shots. Despite the advantage on both shots and overall possession, the Tigers were only able to find the back of the net via a free kick goal from Iljkic. Ida Hermansdottir, Sage Glover and Mollie Baker led the way for LSU as they both had two shots on goal. Ava Galligan and Iljkic each tallied a shot on target as well. Jazmin Ferguson, Sydney Cheesman, Jocelyn Ollivierre, Caley Swierenga and Tori Gillis, along with Tiger goalkeeper Audi Scheving, worked diligently on the defensive side of the ball, holding down the back line to keep the clean sheet on the night. It was LSU’s third clean sheet of the year. Hermansdottir took the Tigers first chance on goal in the 7th minute as she fired a piercing shot to the left of the Ole Miss goalkeeper Shu Ohba, but Ohba made a great save to deny Hermansdottir. Just before the first half whistle, LSU’s Ava Amsden was fouled at the top of the box, giving the Tigers a great opportunity to score from a direct free kick. The set piece shooting specialist, sophomore Andrea Iljkic, stepped up and continued her trend of burying direct free kicks by bending the ball past the Rebels keeper to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The goal, which the Rebels’ Ohba had no chance to save, was Iljkic’s third goal from a direct free kick this season. The first half ended 1-0 in favor of the Tigers and LSU outshot the Rebels in the first half 10 to 3. The Tigers continued to battle in the second half, looking to extend their lead as Ole Miss looked for the equalizer. The remaining 45 featured back and forth competition from both sides with neither able to find the back of the net. LSU took 12 more shots in the second half, moving their tally to 22 on the night. Ole Miss had only seven shots, with Scheving claiming saves on two of those attempts. Rebel keeper Ohba was called to action on nine different occasions throughout the match.Freshman Riley MacDonald tallied a shot on target in her first career appearance at LSU.Preseason WatchlistFive Tigers on the LSU Soccer squad were named to the 2024 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist. A total of 88 student-athletes were named to this year’s watchlist, as Mollie Baker, Jazmin Ferguson, Ida Hermannsdóttir, Ava Galligan and Sydney Cheesman are the Tigers to keep an eye on this year.Baker, Hermannsdottir and Galligan all return to LSU this year, while Ferguson and Cheesman transferred to the team this spring and enter their first season in the Purple and Gold.A captain and leader on this year’s LSU squad, Baker enters her final season with the Tigers in 2024. The Gilbert, Arizona native was the only player to appear and start in all 20 matches for the Tigers last year. The forward tallied three goals, five assists, and 1,551 minutes on the pitch while earning United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Third Team honors in 2023.A native of Reykjivic, Iceland, Hermannsdottir continues to be one of the top midfielders to watch in the nation. She enters year three at LSU with 11 goals, four assists and 2,366 minutes in her career.Galligan, a dual forward/midfielder out of Ashburn, Virginia, enters her second year with the Tigers after a breakout debut season in 2023. She recorded four goals, five assists and played in all 20 matches in her freshman season. Ferguson joined the squad from East Carolina University, where she spent two seasons and was the 2023 American Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year. A native of Conyers, Georgia, she will serve as a vice captain on the squad as she enters her junior season this upcoming fall. United Soccer Coaches named her a defender to watch in 2024.Cheesman is a defender out of Lafayette, Colorado, who transferred to LSU from the University of North Carolina, where she tallied 175 minutes on the pitch in her nine games played and helped lead the Tar Heels to two NCAA Tournament appearances. The defender was rated four stars by Top Drawer Soccer in the recruiting rankings in 2022 prior to starting her collegiate career at UNC. The Coaching StaffHudson enters her fifth season with the Tigers this year. Since beginning her tenure at LSU in 2019, she has propelled the program to unprecedented success alongside Associate Head Coach Seb Furness, who joined the coaching staff that same year.Joining them on staff is Assistant Coaches Antony Blackburn and Conor Cable. Blackburn is a native of Derby, England, who initially joined the Tigers in Fall 2023 as an analyst. He will primarily assist with session planning and delivery, individual development plans, and opposition preparation. Prior to LSU, Blackburn served as Head Coach of Valencia C.F. U14’s (Valencia, Spain), one of the most prestigious academies in the world of professional soccer.Cable joins the Tigers from Lake Erie College, where he spent five years helping lead the storm to new heights. Cable will primarily lead the LSU goalkeeping unit and oversee LSU Soccer community service and outreach events. The Spalding, England native brings a wealth of experience to Baton Rouge from both his previous work with the Lake Erie goalkeeping unit and his own professional experiences. Cable came through the professional system in England, playing for a variety of Premier League and Championship Clubs including Norwich City and Cardiff City, and spent his youth academy days at Bristol City Football Club.Under Hudson’s leadership, the LSU Tigers achieved significant milestones during the 2023 season, marking their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and third consecutive postseason showing—the most straight appearances by a coach in LSU history. Notably, Hudson secured her first LSU NCAA Tournament victory with a first-round win against Lamar on November 11, 2022.This upcoming season, Hudson and her staff will look to earn her fourth consecutive and LSU’s 10th overall NCAA appearance. The Tigers also hope to secure the program’s 14th ten-win season while in pursuit of an SEC and national championship.Attendance is another important component for the Tigers, as Hudson and her staff are striving to set new attendance records inside the LSU Soccer Stadium in 2024. Three of the program’s top ten largest crowds occurred under Hudson’s tenure.The 2024 RosterThis year’s team is a mix of youth and experience. The roster is made up of 29 players, with one graduate student, two seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and 10 freshmen.Mollie Baker and Jaden Humbyrd will lead the squad as captains this year, while ECU transfer Jazmin Ferguson will serve as the vice captain. LSU has welcomed four new transfers for this upcoming season in Ferguson, Cheesman, Sophine Kevorkian (USD) and Gabbi Ceballos (TCU).The veteran seniors include Baker, Humbyrd and Tori Gillis, who all enter their final season with the Tigers this year. Kevorkian, Ferguson, Hermannsdottir, Cheesman, Jocelyn Ollivierre, Angelina Thoreson and Sage Glover make up the junior class. Thoreson returns to the pitch this year after sitting out of the 2023 season due to injury. The sophomores on the squad are Ceballos, Danielle Shannon, Kelsey Major, Audur Scheving, Caley Swierenga, Andrea Iljkic, Ava Galligan, Brielyn Knowles and Alyson Campbell.The freshmen class includes Riley MacDonald, Amy Smith, Annaleigh Bruser, Katelyn Holt, Emerson DeLuca, Ava Amsden, Aurora Gaines, Senai Rogers, Sarah Stadler and Natalie Dvorakova. The addition of Scheving to the squad brings LSU’s total to four internationals on the roster. She is the second player to become a Tiger from Reykjavik, Iceland, along with Hermannsdottir. Other countries represented on the squad are Sweden and Czechia. The full 2024 LSU Soccer Roster can be found here. Follow The TigersStay up to date with all things LSU Soccer by following our team’s social media channels @LSUsoccer on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.</div></body>

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Soccer Welcomes Oklahoma To Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Soccer Team (6-3-1, 1-1-0 SEC) will welcome Oklahoma (8-2, 1-1-0 SEC) to the LSU Soccer Stadium for their first conference matchup Thursday, September 26 at 6 p.m. CT. “We’re really excited for the matchup with Oklahoma. This is obviously the first time we’re...