The Preview: LSU Tigers Soccer Travels to Ole Miss for SEC Matchup on Thursday

OXFORD, Miss. – The LSU Soccer team (8-5-2, 3-2-2 SEC) will travel to Oxford to face the Ole Miss Rebels (4-6-2, 0-5-2) on Thursday, October 16 at 6 p.m. CT in the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.

The battle between the Tigers and the Rebels will be broadcast live on SEC Network with Mike Watts and Jill Loyden calling the action in Oxford.

The Matchup

LSU and Ole Miss are tied 14-14-5 in the all-time series matchups, with both teams looking to take the advantage on Thursday night. The Tigers are 2-3-0 against the Rebels under Sian, having last won in Oxford in The last time the two teams faced, LSU took down Ole Miss in a 1-0 victory in Baton Rouge.

Ole Miss currently sits last in the conference standings with a record of 0-5-2 and two points in SEC play. They are coming off a 1-1 draw against Kentucky last week.

The Rebels have tallied 108 shots, four assists and 12 goals thus far this season, the least of any SEC team. They’ve allowed 24 goals scored on them through 12 matches, the second most by any team in the SEC this year, while also tallying the most saves with 63.

Ole Miss keeper Sidney O’Billovich leads the SEC with 50 of those saves while Katie Ramsden leads the Rebels on the attacking side of the ball with four goals.

Last Time On The Pitch

The Tigers took down Texas A&M by a final score of 4-1 last Friday night in front of the fifth largest home crowd in LSU program history. A total of 2,235 fans attended the match inside the LSU Soccer Stadium.

The victory was the first for LSU over Texas A&M in program history, breaking a 16 year-streak against the Aggies. The Tigers are currently unbeaten in their last four SEC matches and have only allowed three goals in those games.

The Tigers opened the scoring on the night in the 24th minute when defender Jazmin Ferguson headed the ball into the back of the net from six yards out. The goal marked the second of the season and fourth in her career for Ferguson.

The lead was extended to 2-0 when forward Sariyah Bailey took on three defenders, dribbled into the box and placed a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner from nine yards out in the 48th minute. Bailey went on to score LSU’s third goal of the night and double her tally in the 64th minute with a curling right-footed effort from 20 yards out that found the back of the night.

Bailey’s second goal against the Aggies took her goal tally on the season to five, and she became the first LSU true freshman since Hermansdottir in 2022 to score a brace in the Purple & Gold.

Texas A&M found their first goal of the night in the 65th minute as Trinity Buchanan made the score 3-1 before Daniela Hellín secured the fourth and final goal of the night for LSU, her first as a Tiger.

The Tigers won the possession battle on the night and finished the match with 15 shots over A&M’s 13. Tiger keeper Audi Scheving tallied two saves to help secure the win.

Season Stats

LSU is on a 3-0-1 unbeaten streak in SEC play as they continue to move up the conference standings. The Tigers are sitting ninth in the SEC with 11 points.

A win on Thursday night would move their unbeaten streak to five, which hasn’t happened in over 10 years. In 2013, LSU was 5-0-1 in a span of six matches (Sept. 21 – Oct. 11).

LSU has eight wins on their resume this year, most recently taking down Texas A&M in their last home game, moving their home record to 5-1 this year. Throughout the season, the Tigers have also recorded wins over South Alabama, FGCU, UC Davis, Utah, Missouri, Auburn and a top-25 victory over No. 21 Wisconsin. Their win over the Badgers was the program’s first ranked victory at home since 2021.

The Tigers previously notched votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll in the week five poll as they continue to fight for a spot in the national rankings.

LSU currently sits in the top-10 in the league in multiple categories: goals (28), shots (199), assists (22), points (78), saves (43) and shutouts (5) entering tomorrow’s match.

Junior forward Ava Galligan is the Tigers leading scorer with six on the year thus far, which places her amongst the top-10 leading scorers in the SEC. Galligan scored the game winner in LSU’s match against No. 21 Wisconsin to secure the win over the nationally ranked Badgers and gave the Tigers the go-ahead goal over Auburn to help secure the win.

Galligan also leads the Tigers in shots taken this year with 35. She’s appeared in all 15 matches for LSU thus far, earning the start in 11 of those, and totaling 991 minutes.

Sariyah Bailey has been pivotal on the attack for LSU in her debut season, following Galligan with five goals scored this season. The freshman also owns five assists, 28 shots and 15 points.

Hermannsdottir, the second-highest active player in the conference with the most career goals (23), has four goals on the year for LSU with 23 shots and three assists. The senior has played and started in all 15 matches, recording 1,093 minutes on the pitch for the Tigers this year.

Graduate student Morgan Witz has scored three goals on the year in her first and final season at LSU. Other goal scorers on the year for LSU include Jazmin Ferguson with two and Kelsey Major, Gabbi Ceballos, Senai Rogers and Ryann Denecour, all with one each.

Graduate transfer Makenna Dominguez is another Tiger who has made her presence known on the pitch, tallying three assists to help create offensive moments for her team this year.

Senior goalkeeper Sophine Kevorkian started in the first seven matches in between the posts for LSU and last appeared in the Tigers matches against Auburn and Missouri. She owns a 1.15 goals-against average (GAA), 25 saves and three shutouts for LSU this year.

Audur Scheving, the junior keeper from Iceland, has also earned two clean sheets for LSU in between the posts. She has started in LSU’s last two matches against No. 17 Georgia and Texas A&M, tallying 17 saves and a GAAVG of 0.95 this year.

The LSU defense of Jocelyn Ollivierre, Jazmin Ferguson, Sydney Cheesman and Kelsey Major has held it down in the last stretch of SEC play, only allowing three goals in the Tigers last four games.

There are multiple Tigers to break the 1,000 minute mark on the pitch this year, including Ferguson, who leads the way in minutes for LSU with 1,318, as well as Hermannsdottir (1,093), Gabbi Ceballos (1,137), Cheesman (1,142), Ollivierre (1,153) and Major (1,012).

Ferguson, Hermannsdottir, Ollivierre and Kelsey Major are the only other Tigers to earn the start in all 14 matches for LSU thus far.

Next Up

After Oxford, the Tigers will head back to Baton Rouge for their final two home matches of the regular season. LSU will host Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, October 19 for their Greek Night and Pups at the Pitch match before facing Florida in their regular season finale and senior night on Sunday, October 26 at 2 p.m. CT.

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