Box Score (PDF)

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Arkansas women’s soccer team ended a 10-game losing streak to the LSU Tigers on Sunday afternoon, as they played to a 3-3 draw at the LSU Soccer Stadium in front of a national televised audience on the SEC Network.

In a thrilling affair that featured three ties and saw LSU (4-6-1, 0-2-1 SEC) quickly respond to a pair of Arkansas (5-2-4, 1-0-2 SEC) game-tying goals, the Razorbacks were not only able to snap their decade long losing streak to the Tigers, but they were also able to extend their unbeaten streak to five games (2-0-3). Arkansas ends a two-game Southeastern Conference road trip with a pair of ties to remain unbeaten in SEC play.

Freshman Nicole Ortega sent the game into overtime, as she scored her first career goal with just seven seconds remaining in regulation. A pair of headers off a Tyler Allen free kick from sophomores Claire Kelley and Erika Miller guided the ball to Ortega, who then buried a shot in front of the six-yard box to tie the game a 3-3.

The tie marks the first time that Arkansas has picked up a result against LSU since Oct. 31, 2003, when they defeated the Tigers (3-2) in Fayetteville, and the first result in Baton Rouge since Nov. 3, 2002 (1-1).

LSU broke through with the first goal of the game in the 22nd minute as freshman Jorian Baucom’s diving toe poke got past sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Carter. Baucom was set up on a cross deep into the box from Summer Clark, as the freshman dove feet-first into the six-yard box to corral the cross and place it in the back of the net.

Arkansas nearly came up with the equalizer in the 32nd minute with a free kick from senior Tyler Allen, but the Tiger defense was able to clear the ball away from an open net after the ball went over the LSU keeper.

The Razorbacks were aggressive in the first half, as they tallied seven shots, three of which were on goal, but despite the strong offensive effort they ended the first half with a one-goal deficit.

Arkansas came up with the tying goal in the 58th minute, as Kelley scored off an Allen cross. Allen dribbled the ball deep into the left corner of the field and fired a cross over the head of the LSU keeper that found Kelley and she easily scored her fourth goal of the year.

The Tigers retaliated just a minute later with a Megan Lee goal. The sophomore received a pass around midfield and sprinted down the field towards the Arkansas goal, passing a trio of Razorback defenders in the process, and fired a shot past Carter to give LSU its one-goal advantage back. 

The seventh corner kick of the day for Arkansas resulted in another game-tying goal for the Razorbacks, as sophomore Alexandra Fischer’s cross found the head of redshirt junior Margaret Power, who flicked in her third goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 in the 75th minute.

For the second time in the game, LSU was able to quickly recover from a game-tying goal, and it came in similar fashion as the first. Clark, who assisted on the first Tiger goal of the day, dribbled down the field past a group of Arkansas defenders and moved past Carter to fire a shot into an open goal to reclaim the lead just 24 seconds after allowing the Razorbacks to tie the game.

LSU attempted to sit on its advantage for the final 15 minutes and were almost successful in the stalling game, but in the closing seconds of the second half the Razorbacks had one last opportunity at a tie with an Allen free kick roughly 40 yards away from the goal.

Allen’s service found the head of Kelley and she flicked the ball to the right side of the 18 to sophomore Erika Miller, who sent another header that landed in front of six-yard box for freshman Nicole Ortega. Ortega corralled in Miller’s pass and blasted a shot that ended in the back of the net to tie the game with seven seconds remaining.

LSU had a chance to claim victory seven minutes into the first overtime, but Miller would come up big again for the Razorbacks as she blocked a Baucom shot inside the six-yard box to keep the game tied at 3-3 moving into the second overtime.

Like LSU in the first overtime, Arkansas had a chance to end the game early in the second overtime, but a scramble in front of the goal resulted in a Tiger clearance, leaving the game tied.

Arkansas dominated the stat sheet on Sunday afternoon, as they outshot LSU 19-10, 11-3 in shots on goal and collected eighth corner kicks to the Tigers’ two.

The Razorbacks will be back in action next Friday, as they open up a two-game SEC home stand against Vanderbilt. Kick-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network+ via ESPN3.com and the Watch ESPN app.

POSTGAME NOTES

• LSU now holds a 13-5-2 all-time advantage over the Razorbacks.
• Today’s tie snaps a 10-game winning streak for LSU in the series.
• Arkansas is now 8-1-2 vs. LSU in Baton Rouge.
• Under Coach Hale, the Razorbacks are now 0-2-1 against LSU.
• Sunday’s contest marked the third consecutive overtime game for Arkansas and was also the fourth time the Razorbacks have gone into overtime in the last five outings.
• Arkansas now is 29-20-5 in the Colby Hale era.
• The Razorbacks have complied a 12-12-3 SEC record under Hale.
• The Razorbacks are 7-10-2 in true road games under Hale.
• Arkansas is 57-123-16 all-time record in SEC play.
• Nicole Ortega’s goal was the first of her career.
• Claire Kelley’s goal was her fourth of the season and the sixth of her career. She now has 19 points in her career.
• Margret Power’s goal was her third of the season and the fifth of her career.
• Tyler Allen’s two assists give her 16 in her career, moving her into a tie for third place on the school’s all-time with five other Razorbacks.
• Alexandra Fischer’s assist was her second of the year and gives her three points on the road trip (1 goal, 1 assist).

POSTGAME SOUND
HEAD COACH COLBY HALE
On the game
“Honestly, in the first half I thought we had the better of play, but in both boxes we lacked urgency. LSU is a good team and for us to go down three times and fight our way back into the game, showed a lot of fight and a lot of heart. Today was a good game for spectators and the national TV audience to watch. Obviously there are some things defensively we need to clean up, but overall I am super pleased with the performance.”

 

For more information on Arkansas soccer, follow @RazorbackSoccer on Twitter.