 Graphic By: LSUsports.net 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. 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