LSU Plays TCU to Scoreless Draw

August 30, 2013

In the final two minutes of the second overtime period, junior striker Jodi Calloway nearly gave the Tigers the victory with a Golden Goal on the team’s seventh corner kick of the night.

Sophomore midfielder Fernanda Pina stepped up to the right corner flag and served a dangerous ball into the middle of the penalty area. As Tiger senior Alex Ramsey met a TCU defender on a 50-50 ball across the top of the six-yard box, the ball was deflected across the face of goal as Calloway charged to bury the game-winning strike.

But Calloway’s side-footed effort struck the outside of the left post and deflected away from goal where a TCU defender cleared the ball out of danger with just 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining.

Calloway finished the game with a team-leading four shots on the night, while Pina and freshmen Summer Clarke and Emma Fletcher fired three shots to lead the offensive effort for the Tigers in the match.

With the draw, the Tigers (2-0-1) extended their home unbeaten streak to five-straight games dating back to the SEC season a year ago while running their record to 1-1-1 in their three matches all-time against TCU (1-1-1). The LSU defense also pitched its third-straight shutout to open the 2013 season, marking the first time for the Tigers to post a run of three-straight clean sheets.

“At this point in the season, the important thing is the number of chances we’re creating as a team,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “As we move forward, we’ll need to be more precise in the final third as we continue to create more chances. I thought our back line was very efficient, especially protecting against the counter attack. I was proud of our effort tonight.

“This is the type of game where it’s unfortunate not to come away with the win, but we recognize our opponent also had some chances to come away with a result in the end.”

Clarke provided the Tigers with their first scoring opportunity of the night in the 14th minute after possessing near the center circle and dribbling through the TCU back line for a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper racing off her line to defend. That’s when Vittoria Arnold denied Clarke’s shot on goal and out of play for a corner kick.

The Horned Frogs nearly struck less than a minute later when Lauren Sajewich found herself on the end of a free kick and fired a header on frame that was kept out of the back of the net by LSU’s Megan Kinneman.

TCU almost took the lead again in the 35th minute of the first half when Kelly Johnson cut across the top of the box and fired a strike off the crossbar that was then played out of danger by the Tigers. Seconds later, LSU nearly took the lead by way of Fletcher when she saw Arnold drifting off her line and fired a 35-yard strike over the keeper’s head and off the right post.

Kinneman then forced overtime in the waning moments of the second half when she denied Johnson’s 10-yard strike on frame following a series of three corner kicks by the Horned Frogs with less than three minutes to play. Kinneman made a season-high four saves on the night to post her third clean sheet of the season and 14th of her collegiate career.

The Tigers ended the night with a 17-11 advantage in the final shot count, while the Horned Frogs held the edge with a 4-3 count in shots on goal. Each team attempted seven corner kicks on the night.

The Tigers will wrap up their four-game homestand to start the season on Monday night when they play host to the No. 6-ranked BYU Cougars in a Monday Night Futbol match that is set to kick off at 7:07 p.m. CT. It’s a match that will be televised live to a regional audience on Cox Sports Television with the broadcast beginning at 7 p.m.

The Cougars are ranked as high as No. 6 nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as they enter Monday’s contest. The Tigers hold a 1-0-1 edge in the series, which includes a 4-1 victory over the Cougars in Baton Rouge in 2008 and a 0-0 draw with 10th-ranked BYU in Provo, Utah, during the 2010 season.

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