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The LSU Soccer team (11-8-1) bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round following a 3-0 defeat to the No. 18 Memphis Tigers (14-4-2) on Sunday afternoon at the Billy J. Murphy/Soccer/Track & Field Complex. Memphis took the lead in the 50^th minute with an accurate finish from Jocelyn Alonzo before Aubrey Mister doubled the lead in the 74^th and Bryana Buttar put the game to bed in the 78^th.

“Definitely a tough one for us today,” LSU head coach Sian Hudson said. “But I think as we reflect on this year as a whole we had a lot of really big moments.

“We’ve been able to take this program to a different level this year. Our 10 graduating seniors have laid a strong foundation with this program and I thank them for that. For us moving forward, it’s about building on what we did this year.”

LSU opened the match on the front foot and brought early pressure on Memphis’ goal. Midfielder Wasila Diwura-Soale sent the first shot on target of the match in the 9^th minute as her effort from the edge of the box was collected by Memphis goalkeeper Elizabeth Moberg. The best chance of the half for LSU came three minutes later as midfielder Meghan Johnson rose above the defense on the corner and sent a headed ball on goal that was acrobatically parried away from Moberg.

Goalkeeper Mollee Swift was active in the first half as she made her first save of the match in the 10^th minute as she caught a long-ranged effort from a Memphis attacker. Her second save of the afternoon came in the 34^th minute as she dove to her right side to deny an open shot and keep the scoreline at 0-0 heading into the half.

The first goal for Memphis came five minutes into the second half. Tanya Boychuk found Alonzo in the box, who hit the ball with left foot across goal and into the top right corner.

The lead was doubled in the 74^th minute as Mister slotted a ground shot in the six-yard box past Swift and into the back of the net.

In the 78^th minute, Swift picked up her fifth and final save of the afternoon as she dove to her left and parried away a strong shot from Mister. However, Buttar found herself in the right place at the right time and pounced on the rebound to make it 3-0 on the afternoon and put the game to rest for the Tigers.

The defeat brings an end to a successful season full of new program highs and achievements for LSU Soccer. To name a few, it was LSU’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2018, and seventh overall in program history. The Tigers reeled off four top 25 wins this season, the most ever by an LSU team, and it included a win over No. 4 Arkansas to mark the highest ranked win in program history.