ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Two SEC Tournament rookies found the scoresheet early in the first half as Alex Thomas and Gabriela Maldonado netted two quick goals inside the first 20 minutes of the match to send No. 7-seeded LSU back into the tournament semifinals with a 2-1 win over No. 2-seeded Missouri in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

The Tigers (13-4-4) pushed their unbeaten streak to six-straight games with the win while advancing to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the fifth time in school history and the first time since 2010.

LSU picked up its second win of the season against the 2015 SEC runner-up with Missouri (9-5-5) going down to defeat by a 2-1 margin in both matches. Since their last defeat at 12^th-ranked Florida on Oct. 11, the Tigers are unbeaten in six matches with a 5-0-1 mark during that span as they look ahead to Friday’s semifinal match against the winner of No. 3 seed Ole Miss and No. 6 seed Texas A&M.

Head coach Brian Lee will look to lead his troops into the SEC Tournament Championship Game for just the second time in program history while making their fifth semifinal appearance in his 11 seasons. It’s a tenure to produce four-straight appearances in the semifinal round from the 2007-10 seasons.

“I’m so proud of the way our team has approached the back end of this season by taking it one game at a time and taking each day as it comes,” Lee said. “We had a great day of preparation yesterday, and it showed in our performance today, particularly in the first half. We came out with a great mindset early on to get the goals, and just saw it out in the end when Missouri kept the pressure on us late.

“It’s important for us now to get back and regroup this afternoon, have another productive day of recovery tomorrow and put ourselves in the best position we can to have success come Friday night.”

The Tigers broke through early on and quickly doubled their lead in the opening stages with two tournament rookies finding the scoresheet in the opening 20 minutes of the match as Thomas netted her second goal of the season in the 10^th minute and Maldonado followed with her fourth goal of the campaign and second of the tournament in the 18^th minute of play.

After Debbie Hahn’s initial shot from the right side was deflected by a Missouri defender around the left post and over the end line for LSU’s first corner kick of the day, the Tigers recycled possession from the ensuing corner kick as Hahn dribbled into the area and found Thomas for the near-post finish in the left side of the six-yard box.

Thomas gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead just 10 minutes after the opening kickoff as she found the net with her first goal since LSU’s second match of the season at home against Northwestern State back on Aug. 25.

“Early goals are important to any team. Sometimes it takes us until the second half to really get going, so to get the early goal meant a great deal to our team,” Thomas said. “For me, what it meant was seeing smiles on the seniors’ faces for another day. They have worked so hard for this with us, so to see them happy for another day is enough for me. Getting that goal meant a lot to me and everyone else.”

Maldonado quickly doubled the Tigers’ advantage eight minutes later when she controlled the entry pass by All-SEC striker Summer Clarke, side-stepped her defender and fired home inside the left post from 10 yards for her second goal in as many matches at the SEC Tournament. She also scored the winner in LSU’s 2-1 victory over 10^th-seeded Kentucky in the first round on Monday afternoon.

“I faked like I was going to shoot it first time and just stepped to the side and finished,” Maldonado said of her second game-winning goal in the tournament. “It’s motivating being my first time here to stay focused for the team and do my best in what I need to do, defending, running and scoring goals. I know we have great players here, so it pushes me to be more like them.”

Missouri grew into the game after the break and produced some tense moments down the stretch thanks to standout midfielder Kaitlyn Clark pulling a goal back for her side with a long-range effort that found the top left corner of the net as the clock ticked toward the hour mark in the 59^th minute. That’s as close as the scoreline would get as the Tigers saw out the final 30 minutes to earn their spot in the semifinal round.

Thomas even produced the save of the day three minutes later when a loose ball found Clark’s feet 12 yards out, but the SEC All-Freshman Team defender cleared Clark’s effort off the line to maintain the lead.

After speaking with the SEC Network in its postgame coverage, Thomas talked more about the ability of herself and Maldonado to adjust to life in the Southeastern Conference and playing major college soccer at LSU. Her opener in Wednesday’s quarterfinal was her second goal of the season from her right back spot.

“We definitely wouldn’t have done it without the leadership of the seniors, and the upperclassmen in general,” Thomas said of getting acclimated to the team this season. “A lot of teams don’t have that leadership we have, and they just make us feel so comfortable. Here, you don’t feel like a freshman. You feel like you’re just one of them, so it’s easy to get comfortable and go out and work hard and do our jobs for the team.”

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