Da Boot Sports
8/29/2024
LSU Sports Communications
By: Alyssa Leal


​   Lowell, Mass. - The LSU soccer team (2-1-0) began their East Coast road trip on a high note as they defeated UMass Lowell (1-3-0) by a score of 3-0 on Thursday night on Cushing Field.

   “The most important part of today was the team’s response and getting back in the win column,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “The worth ethic, chemistry, and desire in the group showed tonight. There were some really good performances tonight, but overall it was a massive team effort.”

   The victory marked LSU’s first over UMass Lowell as the Tigers bounced back from last week and got back in the win column.

   LSU had three shots in the first 10 minutes of the match, with two of them on target. Forward Angelina Thoreson took the first shot on goal for the Tigers, while Danielle Shannon also tallied two attempts at River Hawk’s keeper Taylor Burgess.

   The Tiger offense kept the foot on the gas as they looked for the first goal of the match. Forward Ida Hermannsdottir took a strong attempt in front of the goal in the 17th minute that was saved by Burgess.

   It was in the 19th minute that Thoreson found the first goal of the match to put LSU on the board first in Thursday’s match. Sydney Cheesman took a corner that found the feet of Jaden Humbyrd toward the back of the box. Humbyrd passed it to Thoreson, who ripped it in one touch to the upper left and past the River Hawk keeper.

   “It was a fantastic finish from Thoreson in her second career goal,” said Hudson. “Obviously she missed last year due to injury, so it was great to see her find the finish and get herself off the mark this season.”

   The Tigers saw a few more first half shots from Cheesman, Jazmin Ferguson, Ava Galligan, Aurora Gaines, Ava Amsden and Thoreson. 

   LSU kept the 1-0 lead going into halftime, tallying 17 shots. The River Hawks did not record a shot on Tiger keeper Audi Scheving in the first 45 minutes.

   Galligan took a shot on goal early in the second half to get the action started before Amy Smith extended the Tiger lead in the 55th minute. The freshman took the ball down the left side of the pitch and finished in a one versus one with the River Hawk’s keeper. It was her first collegiate goal to make the score 2-0. 

   WIth 10 minutes left on the clock, the Tigers did not take their foot off the gas. Forward Andrea Iljkic scored a banger in the 82nd minute, earning her first career goal in the Purple & Gold. Iljkic stepped up to take a free kick from the top of the box, and she made no mistake with her attempt as it flew straight into the top right hand corner of the net, giving Burgess no chance at making a save. 

   Iljkic’s goal made it 3-0 on the night as LSU secured the win on the road. The Tigers finished the match with 29 shots, with 13 being on goal, and one assist from Humbyrd.

   “I am thrilled for Amy Smith and Andrea Iljkic for securing their first goals in the Purple & Gold,” said Hudson.

   Scheving played the full 90 minutes in between the posts for the Tigers, recording her second clean sheet in only three matches with the help of the LSU defense.

   Thoreson led with a team high three shots on goal on the night, while Shannon and Cheesman followed with two. The TIgers had nine different players take a shot on target in total. 

   LSU will conclude their East Coast trip on Sunday, September 1, as they are slated to travel to Norfolk, Virginia to take on Old Dominion at the ODU Soccer Complex. The match will start at 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats will be available on lsusports.net. 

 

Da Boot Sports
8/25/2024
LSU Sports Communications
By: Alyssa Leal


   BATON ROUGE –- The LSU Soccer team (1-1-0) fell in their 2024 home opener against Arizona State (2-0-2) by a score of 5-2 on Sunday night in the LSU Soccer Stadium.

   “Obviously, we’re incredibly disappointed. It’s not the way we wanted to open our season
at home,” said LSU Head Coach Sian Hudson. “I thought it was a really positive start, getting a goal in the first couple minutes, but we just had a lapse of concentration and let them get back into the game.”

   The Tigers started the match on the right foot and struck first just under the three minute mark, but the Sun Devils continued to battle back the full 90 minutes. Arizona State’s Cameron Valladares recorded two goals and two assists. For LSU, Ida Hermansdottir and Jazmin Ferguson both shined as they found their names on the scoresheet.

   Defender Sydney Cheesman claimed the assists on both of LSU’s goals for the night.

   “We created a lot of chances from set pieces, and despite the result, there is still a lot of promise right now in terms of ability to score goals, but priority number one is to tighten up defensively and make sure we do not concede at that level.”

   LSU wasted no time after kick-off to get amongst the goals. The Tigers won a corner just three minutes into the match, and Cheesman placed a perfect cross into the box that was met by midfielder Hermansdottir, who guided the ball into the back of the net with a perfect header to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

   A minute later, Arizona State equalized the match via a goal from forward Cameron Valladares.

   In the 18th minute of the match, the Tigers once again capitalized from a set piece to gain the advantage, as Ferguson blasted a pass from Cheesman into the back of the net, which was good for Ferguson’s second goal of the season and Cheesman’s second assist of the match. 

   Ferguson now owns as many goals as she’s played at LSU.

   Arizona State once again found an equalizer in the 25th minute, as a clearance from LSU’s Ferguson caught goalkeeper Audur Scheving off guard and resulted in an own goal to make the score 2-2, ending the first half.

​   The Sun Devils started off the second half hot with two quickfire goals. Valladares recorded her second goal of the evening in the 52nd minute of the match off an assist from Kiera Blundell to make the score 3-2. Arizona State extended their lead five minutes later and made it a 4-2 game off of a goal from Enasia Colon that was assisted by Valladares. 

   In the 64th minute, Enasia Colon once again found the back of the net to make the score 5-2. The goal was assisted by Valladares and Keri Matthews.

   Scheving, Cheesman and Caley Swierenga played the full 90 minutes for the Tigers on Sunday. Scheving finished the night with two saves. 

   Seven Tigers tallied a shot on goal as LSU tried to fight back in their home opener. Danielle Shannon, Sage Glover, Mollie Baker, Amy Smith and Ava Galligan all gave efforts at the Arizona State’s keeper, along with Ferguson and Hermannsdottir. Baker took a team high seven shots in total.

   The Tigers couldn’t find another chance to extend their scoring on the night, ultimately falling to the Sun Devils in a battle in Baton Rouge.

   LSU will return to the pitch on Thursday, August 29th, to take on UMass Lowell on the road. The game is slated to start at 5 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted live on ESPN+. Live stats will be available on lsusports.net. 

   “As we look ahead to our Boston trip, we are really excited to get on the road and head up to the Northeast. We have two really important games against UMass Lowell and Old Dominion.”




​

Photos By: Paige Luper

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
8/16/2024
Article courtesy of: Crescent City Sports
By: Lenny Vangilder


   Ed Daniels, a New Orleans native who launched the city’s first-ever high school sports television show as part of a five-decade career telling the stories of Louisiana sports, died Friday from complications after a cardiac event last month. He was 67.Daniels spent 11 days in a Los Angeles-area hospital before being flown back to New Orleans on August 5.

   Before the term multimedia journalist became commonplace in the media industry, Daniels had his hands in the three major forms of journalism.

   Daniels’ primary home was television, where he spent more than 40 years coming into the homes of New Orleans sports fans – first at WDSU-TV and the last 33 years at WGNO-TV, where he would become the station’s first and, until now, only sports director.


   In 1992, just after Daniels’ arrival at WGNO – which was still an independent station at the time – he launched Friday Night Football, the first-of-its-kind show in New Orleans focusing on highlights of that night’s games. Hall of fame coach J.T. Curtis has served as co-host and analyst on FNF since the show’s inception.

   Never afraid to express an opinion, Daniels was a sports columnist for the Clarion Herald for nearly two decades – where he took over the columnist space of his one-time boss at WDSU, Buddy Diliberto – and served as a regular contributor to Crescent City Sports and its previous iterations since their launch in 2008.

   On radio, he spent his Saturday mornings for the better part of three decades co-hosting the Three Tailgaters show on a variety of frequencies – most recently at 106.1 The Ticket – with his high school and college classmate, Ken Trahan. Additionally, he served a stint as a radio analyst for Saints preseason games, New Orleans Night Arena Football games and University of New Orleans men’s basketball broadcasts.


   While many sports departments in the area would focus their attention on professional and college sports and national stories, Daniels made it a point to promote the efforts of high school athletics.

 
   FNF’s success led to two other shows – Friday Night Sports, which covered winter events, and Friday Night Fastball, which featured baseball, softball and other spring sports.

   Daniels’ impact on high school sports wasn’t limited to television.

   In 2011, Daniels and former Riverside Academy coach Timmy Byrd teamed up to launch the Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic basketball tournament. Originally a tournament for 16 boys teams, the event grew to five different brackets for boys and girls last winter.
The success of the basketball event spawned similar events in baseball and 7-on-7 football. An in-season event for volleyball is scheduled to debut this fall.


   Additionally, when many of the LHSAA select and non-select state championships were split at different locations, the organizing group behind the National Prep Classic hosted girls basketball state semifinals and finals at the Alario Center in February 2022.

   Daniels’ career at WGNO featured much more than covering prep sports. Before the station began its news operation in 1996, he served as host of a game show, “N.O. It Alls,” produced by former NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff. Additionally, when Minor League Baseball returned to New Orleans in 1993 in the form of the Zephyrs, WGNO acquired television rights and Daniels served as the TV play-by-play voice of the team during its early years.

   Daniels was a three-time recipient (1997, 2014, 2018) of the Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year, voted on by his peers and awarded by the National Sports Media Association, and received the Press Club of New Orleans’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

   Archbishop Rummel High School, his alma mater, honored him in 2013 with induction into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame – an honor he shared with his classmate and lifelong friend, Trahan. He is also a member of De La Salle’s athletic hall.


The outpouring of support for Daniels after his cardiac event was immense.

   A rosary on the evening of July 31 at St. Philip Neri, where Daniels and his wife Robin were parishioners, drew hundreds of voices praying together for a recovery.

   Others like LSU coach Brian Kelly and Tulane coach Jon Sumrall – who could almost always count on having Daniels in attendance at their media availabilities – mentioned Daniels by name to open their first news conferences of preseason practice.

   Daniels graduated from Rummel in 1975 and earned his communications degree from Loyola University in 1979.

   In addition to his wife, Daniels is survived by five children and five grandchildren.

​   Funeral arrangements are pending.

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
8/16/2024
LSU Sports Communications
By: Alyssa Leal


   Mobile, Ala. – The LSU Soccer team kicked off the 2024 season on a high note as they defeated the South Alabama Jaguars by a score of 3-0 on Thursday night in The Cage. 

   “I’m just really excited. I think anytime you can get a win in your opening game is great," said head coach Sian Hudson.

  "We’ve really pushed the girls in preseason and we certainly put it away there in the opening minutes. I don’t think you can ask for much more than going three-nil up in 10 minutes in your opening match. Overall, we got the season off to a great start.”

   The last time LSU started the season with a win on the road was in 2015, when they defeated Oregon by a score of 2-1 in Eugene. 

   The Tigers came out hot in Mobile as sophomore Ava Galligan claimed the first goal of the year. Junior Sage Glover sent a through ball to the feet of Galligan at the top of the 18-yard box, who then found the finish not even five minutes into the season opening match.

   “It was great to see Ava Galligan get on the scoresheet early,” said Hudson. “She was one of our top performers last year, and to get her off in the races early is always good.”

   After a brief video assistant referee (VAR) review, junior Ida Hermannsdottir was awarded a penalty kick following being fouled inside the box. She calmly found the lower left to give the Tigers the 2-0 lead in Mobile. 

   Junior transfer Jazmin Ferguson secured her first goal in the Purple & Gold via a headed ball off of a corner kick from fellow defender Sydney Cheesman in the 11th minute. The Tigers had the 3-0 lead over the Jaguars just 15 minutes into their first regular season match of the year. 

   "That was probably the most exciting goal of the night," said Hudson. "We struggled with set pieces last year, so to get that goal on a header from a corner great."

   The first half ended in favor of the Tigers, 3-0. Goalkeeper Audur Scheving recorded four saves during the first period of play in her first start with the Tigers.

   LSU stayed in control during the second half, continuing to shut down the Jaguars as they did an excellent job of limiting chances by South Alabama. Scheving added another two saves to her tally to bring her total for the game to six.

   Ten Tigers made their debuts in the Purple and Gold this evening. Ferguson had a great start to her LSU career with her goal early in the first half, while Sydney Cheesman held down the defense with 69 minutes on the pitch in her start for the Tigers. The freshmen who saw action for the first time included Ava Amsden, Emerson DeLuca, Annaleigh Bruser and Aurora Gaines. 

   LSU handed South Alabama their first home loss since September 2, 2021. The Jaguars had a record of 17-1-4 at home since 2021 and before tonight’s loss. 

   “The most important thing for us after going up three-nil was the clean sheet. We used a lot of players tonight and now we’ve got a nice 10 day stretch to continue to work on our team chemistry that we’ve put in place.”

   The Tigers will take the pitch again on Thursday, August 22nd, at 6:30 p.m. CT for their Purple vs. Gold Scrimmage at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The exhibition match will give Tiger fans a chance to get an early look at this year’s squad before the squad’s 2024 home opener on Sunday, August 25th, at 7:00 p.m. against the Arizona State Sun Devils. 

   The match against Arizona State will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and live stats will be available on lsusports.net.

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
8/14/2024
LSU Sports Communications
By: Alyssa Leal


   ​Mobile, Ala – The LSU Soccer Team kicks off the 2024 season against South Alabama at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, August 15 inside The Cage.

   “We are so excited to get our 2024 journey off and running. Our pre-season trip was fantastic and we believe we have started to lay a foundation in our culture that will bring a togetherness and camaraderie that will carry us to success this season,” said head coach Sian Hudson.

   “There's incredible energy in this team that has been building since the spring and we can’t wait to see it in a competitive setting for the first time against South Alabama. They will be an organized team, led by a coach I respect a lot in Chris Hennessy. It will be a great first test for us on the road, but we’re excited to rise to the occasion and set the tone for what’s going to be a thrilling season!”

  The season opening match between the Tigers and the Jaguars will be streamed on ESPN+. The watch link and live stats link can be found here.

The Opponent

   LSU owns a record of 7-5 against South Alabama as the squad prepares to open the season against the Jaguars in Mobile. Led by Chris Hennessey, the Jaguars are coming off a successful campaign in 2023, in which they posted a 16-1-3 overall record, 8-0-2 conference record and won their seventh Sun Belt regular season title.

   The two teams last faced off in 2021, when the Tigers defeated the Jaguars 2-1 on the road in Mobile. LSU has won five of the six matches against South Alabama, including the last two road competitions. 

Preseason Watchlist

   Five Tigers on the LSU Soccer squad were named to the 2024 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist. A total of 88 student-athletes were named to this year’s watchlist, as Mollie Baker, Jazmin Ferguson, Ida Hermannsdóttir, Ava Galligan and Sydney Cheesman are the Tigers to keep an eye on this year.

   Baker, Hermannsdottir and Galligan all return to LSU this year, while Ferguson and Cheesman transferred to the team this spring and enter their first season in the Purple and Gold.

   A captain and leader on this year’s LSU squad, Baker enters her final season with the Tigers in 2024. The Gilbert, Arizona native was the only player to appear and start in all 20 matches for the Tigers last year. The forward tallied three goals, five assists, and 1,551 minutes on the pitch while earning United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Third Team honors in 2023.

   A native of Reykjivic, Iceland, Hermannsdottir continues to be one of the top midfielders to watch in the nation. She enters year three at LSU with 11 goals, four assists and 2,366 minutes in her career.

   Galligan, a dual forward/midfielder out of Ashburn, Virginia, enters her second year with the Tigers after a breakout debut season in 2023. She recorded four goals, five assists and played in all 20 matches in her freshman season. 

   Ferguson joined the squad from East Carolina University, where she spent two seasons and was the 2023 American Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year. A native of Conyers, Georgia, she will serve as a vice captain on the squad as she enters her junior season this upcoming fall. United Soccer Coaches named her a defender to watch in 2024.

   Cheesman is a defender out of Lafayette, Colorado, who transferred to LSU from the University of North Carolina, where she tallied 175 minutes on the pitch in her nine games played and helped lead the Tar Heels to two NCAA Tournament appearances. The defender was rated four stars by Top Drawer Soccer in the recruiting rankings in 2022 prior to starting her collegiate career at UNC. 

The Coaching Staff

   Hudson enters her fifth season with the Tigers this year. Since beginning her tenure at LSU in 2019, she has propelled the program to unprecedented success alongside Associate Head Coach Seb Furness, who joined the coaching staff that same year.

   Joining them on staff is Assistant Coaches Antony Blackburn and Conor Cable. Blackburn is a native of Derby, England, who initially joined the Tigers in Fall 2023 as an analyst. He will primarily assist with session planning and delivery, individual development plans, and opposition preparation. Prior to LSU, Blackburn served as Head Coach of Valencia C.F. U14’s (Valencia, Spain), one of the most prestigious academies in the world of professional soccer.

   Cable joins the Tigers from Lake Erie College, where he spent five years helping lead the storm to new heights. Cable will primarily lead the LSU goalkeeping unit and oversee LSU Soccer community service and outreach events. 

   The Spalding, England native brings a wealth of experience to Baton Rouge from both his previous work with the Lake Erie goalkeeping unit and his own professional experiences. Cable came through the professional system in England, playing for a variety of Premier League and Championship Clubs including Norwich City and Cardiff City, and spent his youth academy days at Bristol City Football Club.
 
   Under Hudson's leadership, the LSU Tigers achieved significant milestones during the 2023 season, marking their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and third consecutive postseason showing—the most straight appearances by a coach in LSU history. Notably, Hudson secured her first LSU NCAA Tournament victory with a first-round win against Lamar on November 11, 2022.

   This upcoming season, Hudson and her staff will look to earn her fourth consecutive and LSU’s 10th overall NCAA appearance. The Tigers also hope to secure the program’s 14th ten-win season while in pursuit of an SEC and national championship.

   Attendance is another important component for the Tigers, as Hudson and her staff are striving to set new attendance records inside the LSU Soccer Stadium in 2024. Three of the program's top ten largest crowds occurred under Hudson’s tenure.

   “I’m committed to working tirelessly alongside my staff and team to achieve the success our Tiger fans deserve,” said Hudson. “Witnessing the growth of soccer in Louisiana during my time here has been incredibly rewarding, and we want to continue to build on that each year.”

The 2024 Roster


   This year’s team is a mix of youth and experience. The roster is made up of 29 players, with one graduate student, two seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and 10 freshmen.

   Mollie Baker and Jaden Humbyrd will lead the squad as captains this year, while ECU transfer Jazmin Ferguson will serve as the vice captain. 

   LSU has welcomed four new transfers for this upcoming season in Ferguson, Cheesman, Sophine Kevorkian (USD) and Gabbi Ceballos (TCU).

   The veteran seniors include Baker, Humbyrd and Tori Gillis, who all enter their final season with the Tigers this year. 

   Kevorkian, Ferguson, Hermannsdottir, Cheesman, Jocelyn Ollivierre, Angelina Thoreson and Sage Glover make up the junior class. 
Thoreson returns to the pitch this year after sitting out of the 2023 season due to injury. 

   The sophomores on the squad are Ceballos, Danielle Shannon, Kelsey Major, Audur Scheving, Caley Swierenga, Andrea Iljkic, Ava Galligan, Brielyn Knowles and Alyson Campbell.

   The freshmen class includes Riley MacDonald, Amy Smith, Annaleigh Bruser, Katelyn Holt, Emerson DeLuca, Ava Amsden, Aurora Gaines, Senai Rogers, Sarah Stadler and Natalie Dvorakova.  

   The addition of Scheving to the squad brings LSU’s total to four internationals on the roster. She is the second player to become a Tiger from Reykjavik, Iceland, along with Hermannsdottir. Other countries represented on the squad are Sweden and Czechia. 



The 2024 Schedule

   LSU officially kicks off the new season against South Alabama on Thursday, August 15 in Mobile. The Tigers schedule this year features eight matches inside the LSU Soccer Stadium.

   The Tigers home opener is set for Sunday, August 25th against Arizona State. The squad will also welcome Utah, UL-Lafayette, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Auburn and Texas to Baton Rouge before concluding home play against Vanderbilt on Thursday, October 24.

   LSU will travel to face University of Massachusetts Lowell, Old Dominion, San Francisco, University of California Davis, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Texas A&M and will close out the regular season at Missouri on Sunday, October 27. 

   The squad will compete against 10 SEC opponents throughout the regular season this year,
​including the newest league members Texas and Oklahoma.

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.