Baucom opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute of play with her sixth goal of the season to put the Tigers on top 1-0 midway through the first half, while Lee found the scoresheet on the hour mark to push their lead to 2-1 with her second goal of the campaign before Clarke matched Baucom with her team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 75^th minute to give the home side a 3-2 edge late in the contest.

But freshman Nicole Ortega scored her first collegiate goal with just seven seconds remaining in regulation to force extra time and rescue a point for the Razorbacks with the scoreboard reading 3-3 at full time.

While the Tigers (4-6-2, 0-2-1 SEC) were denied their first Southeastern Conference victory of the season on Sunday, they snapped a four-game losing skid going back to a 1-0 defeat at No. 25-ranked Duke on Sept. 14, and extended unbeaten streaks against the Razorbacks (5-2-4, 1-0-2) to 11-straight games dating back to the 2004 season and eight-straight matches in Baton Rouge since the 1998 campaign.

The Tigers kicked off with a 10-game winning streak in the series as they are now 10-0-1 in their last 11 matches against the Razorbacks and 13-5-2 in the all-time series dating back to their inaugural season of 1995.

“There are positives that come from a game like this,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee following the match. “Arkansas is a solid team that plays with a lot of effort. They were 27^th in the RPI as of this morning, so it is going to boost us in terms of those numbers. We have to really show some fight and get back to .500 and get some quality wins under our belt through the SEC season.”

The Tigers broke through first in the 22^nd minute with Clarke leading the attack down the left flank as she beat her defender to the end line and centered to Baucom for an easy one-time finish from near the top of the six-yard box to put the Tigers on top 1-0 at the 21:02 mark. Baucom briefly took over the team lead with her sixth goal of the year in her debut season with the Tigers.

With the home side leading by a single goal coming out of the break, the second half turned into a back-and-forth shootout with five goals scored over the final 45 minutes of action to force extra time.

Claire Kelley drew the Razorbacks level at the 57:58 mark with her fourth goal of the season as she finished from inside the six-yard box on a cross into the area from teammate Tyler Allen curled in from the left side. It was a goal that tied Kelley with teammates Ashleigh Ellenwood and Alexandra Fischer for the team lead with four goals on the season.

But the Tigers struck back quickly on the counter attack following a clearance from an Arkansas corner kick when Lee took possession from the edge of the center circle in LSU’s own half and raced 60 yards with the ball past four Razorback defenders with only goalkeeper Cameron Carter left to challenge racing off her line. Lee finished inside the right post from 12 yards out in the left side of the penalty area for a 2-1 lead.

Lee’s effort is certainly a Goal of the Season candidate for these LSU Tigers as she put the home side back on top by a 2-1 margin at the 59:59 mark, just 2 minutes, 1 second after Kelley’s equalizer on the other end.

“I can’t really remember it,” Lee quipped of her effort that gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead midway through the second half. “I love dribbling. I figured I would keep going because there was no one to pass it to because they were all back defending the corner kick. I saw a couple of girls trying to get close to me, so I figured I would just try and dribble past her. Once the keeper came out, I just had to finish it from there.”

After the Razorbacks drew level again at 2-2 in the 75^th minute through Margaret Power’s header from Fischer’s corner kick, Clarke matched Lee’s effort with a breakaway goal of her own after taking possession at the edge of the center circle in the Arkansas half, dribbling into the box through a gaping midfield, drawing Carter off her line and finishing inside the near post from the top of the six-yard box in the left side of the area.

“My teammates made two great runs that completely cleared that side of the field, so props to them for that because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity,” Clarke said of the build up to her go-ahead goal. “Once they did that, I just had to maintain possession and play one-on-one with the keeper.”

The Tigers were on their way to a first SEC win of the season with the scoreboard showing a 3-2 lead with just 15:09 to play in regulation following Clarke’s team-leading sixth goal of the campaign.

That’s when Ortega rescued a point for the visitors with her first goal of the season as she found herself on the end of another free kick into the box by Allen as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The Tigers couldn’t clear Allen’s service into the box, and Ortega poked home the loose ball from inside the six-yard box with just seven seconds to play to force extra time and a 3-3 draw at the full-time whistle.

“We were trying to kill the game and needed anything but a free kick for them,” Lee said of conceding at the end of regulation. “The effort and fight was a lot better in this game. Everything was a massive step forward for our team, and it was a shame we couldn’t get the three points in the end.”

The Tigers head back on the road next weekend as they travel to Starkville, Mississippi, to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT at the MSU Soccer Complex before making the trip to Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday, Oct. 5, to battle the No. 12-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks with kickoff set for Noon CT at Stone Stadium.

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