LAFAYETTE – Molly Thompson scored a pair of first-half goals and added another in the second half for her first career hat trick and the No. 7-ranked LSU Tigers claimed a 5-0 victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Soccer team on Thursday at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility.
Louisiana (2-5-0), playing before a school-record crowd of 2,373 – the 13th largest single-game crowd in the NCAA this season – dropped its fourth match against SEC competition this season while also hosting a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time in school history.
Tinaya Alexander added a goal and an assist while Meghan Johnson added a goal as LSU (7-0-0) staked a 3-0 lead at halftime and outshot the Ragin’ Cajuns, 20-10.
The teams – separated by over 50 miles – played for the 10th time overall and the first since a 3-0 LSU victory on Aug. 21, 2011. Thompson started off the scoring for the Tigers in the 16th minute when she took a pass from Rammie Noel and scored past Louisiana goalkeeper Libby Harper for a 1-0 lead.
Just over four minutes later, Thompson scored her second goal of the night and third of the season when she beat Harper in the 21st minute.
LSU increased its lead to 3-0 in the 41st minute when Alexander took a ball, sprinted past a Ragin’ Cajuns defender and scored into the upper left corner of the net past Harper.
Alexander set up Thompson’s third goal of the night in the 51st minute with a pass that Thompson got past Jordan Higgins in the lower left corner. The Tigers would wrap up the scoring in the 81st minute when Johnson scored her first goal of the season off a corner kick set up by Grace Haggerty.
Mollie Swift and Jade Odom combined to stop five shots for LSU with Swift recording three saves in the first half.
Karleen Bedre and Julieta Limardo each attempted a pair of shots for Louisiana with Izzy Wheeler and Hailly Waterhouse each posting shots on-goal. Higgins, making her second appearance of the season, stopped a match-high four shots in 27 minutes of play for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Harper knocked down a pair of shots and Lauryn Starwood one in her 2021 debut.
Louisiana will return to action on Sept. 16 when it opens Sun Belt Conference play against Georgia State in a 3 p.m., contest. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsSOC), Instagram (@RaginCajuns_SOC) and Facebook (Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer) or check RaginCajuns.com for Louisiana soccer updates.
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