First half goals from freshman Barbara Olivieri and senior Jimena Lopez proved to be enough to lift the maroon and white above the tenacious Tigers on Friday night.
A cagey first 10 minutes saw LSU demonstrate its counter-attacking prowess while A&M held the lion’s share of possession. The Tigers fashioned a clear-cut chance through Rammie Noel in the ninth minute but the midfielder fired just wide.
The Aggies promptly opened the scoring a minute later through Olivieri. After a rapid succession of passes into the attacking third, senior midfielder Addie McCain slipped a pass to Olivieri, who took aim outside of the 18-yard box and rifled a shot into the top right corner. The goal is Olivieri’s fourth in what has been an impressive maiden campaign for the freshman.
After the Aggies were unable to capitalize on a number of good chances to extend their lead, LSU equalized in the 26th minute through forward Tinaya Alexander. Following a rapid counter-attack by the Tigers, midfielder Wasila Diwura-Soale’s pinpoint cross found the head of Alexander who deftly guided the ball out of the reach of A&M goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell. Alexander’s goal was only one of two shots on target that the Tigers would have Friday night.
The Aggies honored seniors Taylor Ziemer, McCain and Lopez prior to the opening whistle, and it was Lopez who reclaimed A&M’s lead in the 36th minute with a splendid run and finish for her second of the season. After leaving a couple LSU defenders in the dust, Lopez let loose a curling weak-foot shot past the helpless LSU goalkeeper.
Despite dominating in both the shot (16-3) and corner kick departments (3-0) the Aggies went into the halftime break only up one goal and looking susceptible to the Tigers’ counter attack.
The latter half of action was far less eventful than the former with both teams looking gassed as the half progressed. LSU’s constant press was clearly taking its toll by the last 20 minutes and A&M seemed content to sit on its one goal lead. While the Aggies’ offense created a few decent chances and added an additional nine shots, they were unable to extend the lead. Meanwhile, the Tigers failed to create quality chances despite their tireless efforts.
With the win, the Aggies improve to 6-1-0 and maintain their unbeaten record against the LSU Tigers (0-6-2), who remain winless on the season. The maroon and white also made history Friday night by entering into the top 10 for wins in NCAA Women’s Soccer — the youngest program in the top 10.
After the 90 minutes, A&M coach G Guerrieri was full of praise for his three senior players.
“You look at all three of those seniors, they are so influential,” Guerrieri said. “Not just what they do in the game for us, but they are influential in a way that the team trains. They lead by example, and that is exactly what you would want out of a group of seniors.”
The Aggies return to action Monday, Nov. 9 against the Auburn Tigers at Ellis Field in their final regular season game. With a win, the Aggies would claim their share of an SEC regular-season championship. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m.