The Tigers (5-8-2, 1-4-1 SEC) dropped their second SEC match on the bounce and saw their eight-game unbeaten streak in the series snapped by the Crimson Tide (8-4-2, 3-2-1) after reeling off a 6-0-2 mark in their last eight meetings on the soccer pitch. LSU dropped its first match to Alabama since a 3-1 defeat in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 14, 2005.

The Tigers and Crimson Tide squared off Thursday before a nationwide television audience in the SEC Network Game of the Week as the only Southeastern Conference match of the evening.

The Tigers enjoyed the early possession and took an early 1-0 lead through Baucom as she slammed home a penalty kick in the 11^th minute of play after being taken down when trying to go up and head a cross into the box by fellow striker Summer Clarke. The home side were clinical in the attack as Emma Fletcher freed up Clarke for an end-line cross to Baucom standing near the top of the six-yard box.

Baucom’s second penalty-kick goal of the season tied her with Clarke as the team’s leading goal scorer in her rookie season as they have now scored seven goals apiece to set the pace in the Tiger attack.

Alabama’s All-SEC standout Merel van Dongen drew the Crimson Tide level late in the first half with her third goal of the season as she fired home a free kick from 20 yards directly in front of the LSU goal inside the left post on 32 minutes. The Dutch international drew the foul that led to the free kick as she was clipped at the ankles by a Tiger defender before making a darting run into the area.

It was Gomez-Junco who restored the LSU lead with nearly an hour gone in the match as she one-timed Clarke’s cross to the top of the six-yard box past Alabama goalkeeper Emily Rusk for her fourth goal of her junior season. LSU’s Mexican international has now scored four goals along with her team-leading four assists in her debut season with the Tigers as the team’s third-leading scorer during the 2014 campaign.

The Tigers were just two minutes from victory as they held onto their 2-1 lead through 88 minutes before freshman forward Lacey Clarida equalized from Diederich’s corner kick as time ticked away in regulation. When Diederich’s initial service sailed through the six-yard box, the ball was played back to Clarida who finished her own rebound for her third goal of the season after her initial header was fired straight off the crossbar.

Diederich then handed the Crimson Tide the points just three minutes into the first extra time period with an 18-yard strike from the top of the box that deflected off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

The Tigers have now reached the midway point of the Southeastern Conference season as they will take the rest of the weekend off ahead of an important SEC road swing next weekend. They will travel to square off against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in Knoxville on Friday, Oct. 17, before taking on the 16^th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Sunday, Oct. 19, on ESPNU.

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