Football hosts Arizona State for home opener on Sunday – LSU

BATON ROUGE – The LSU football team (1-0-0) hosts Arizona State (1-0-2) for its first home game on Sunday, August 25 at 7:00 p.m. CT at LSU Football Stadium.

“It’s crucial to build on the momentum from our first win last week as we head into our first home game against Arizona State. There’s nothing better than playing in front of our fans and we’re looking forward to bringing that energy to the field on Sunday,” said head coach Sian Hudson. “Arizona State is always a strong opponent and I think Graham (Winkworth) does a great job so this game will be a good test for us before we hit the road next week. We’re focused and ready to get the job done as we continue to move forward this season.”

The match between the Tigers and the Sun Devils in Baton Rouge will be streamed on SEC Network+. regard Link and Live statistics Link you will find Here. Visit this link for everything related to LSU football game day.

Promotions

The first giveaway of the season is a free “Bike Mike” t-shirt when the Tigers officially open their season at LSU Soccer Stadium. Fans arriving at the stadium on a first-come, first-served basis will receive a coupon to pick up their shirt at halftime of the game. There will also be free Kona Ice.

It’s the perfect opportunity to start the new school year with the first sporting event of the year on campus during Welcome Week. Gates to the football stadium open at 5:00 p.m. CT.

All game-by-game promotions for the year can be found Here.

The opponent

ASU and LSU have split two meetings so far, with both teams winning one on the road. The Sun Devils won 1-0 in Baton Rouge in 2019, while the Tigers won 5-2 in Tempe during the 2021 season.

This is only the third time the two teams have faced each other.

Preseason Watchlist

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

Baker, Hermannsdottir and Galligan all return to LSU this year, while Ferguson and Cheesman joined the team this spring and are beginning their first season in purple and gold.

Baker, captain and leader of this year’s LSU team, will enter her final season with the Tigers in 2024. The Gilbert, Arizona native was the only player to appear in all 20 games for the Tigers last year and start in the lineup. The forward scored three goals, five assists and was on the field for 1,551 minutes while being named to the 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Third Team.

A native of Reykjivic, Iceland, Hermannsdottir continues to be one of the best midfielders in the country, entering her third year at LSU with 11 goals, four assists and 2,366 minutes in her career.

Galligan, a dual forward/midfielder from Ashburn, Virginia, enters her second year with the Tigers after her breakout debut season in 2023. She scored four goals, had five assists and played in all 20 games in her first season.

Ferguson comes to the team from East Carolina University, where she spent two seasons and was named the American Athletic Conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. A native of Conyers, Georgia, she will serve as the team’s vice captain when she begins her junior season next fall. United Soccer Coaches named her a defender to watch in 2024.

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

Defenders in focus

United Soccer coaches named LSU Soccer junior Jazmin Ferguson a defender to watch in 2024.

The defender watch list was the second position announced by the organization as United Soccer Coaches announced the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I player rosters for each position. Ferguson was the only Tiger to claim a spot from the organization.

The lists are compiled and published by the Division I All-America Committees to promote college football.

Ferguson, a native of Conyers, Georgia, began her junior season with the Tigers last Thursday. She will continue to play a key role on defense. She will also be the Tigers’ vice captain in 2024 during her first year at LSU.

Ferguson has already made an impression in purple and gold, scoring her first goal in her first appearance in the team’s season opener against South Alabama last Thursday.

She transferred to LSU in the spring after spending her first two seasons at East Carolina University, where she was named the American Athletic Conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2023.

In her first collegiate season, she was named AAC Freshman of the Year and received nominations to the Second-Team All-Conference and All-Freshman Team. At the end of the season, she was ranked the 56th best freshman defender in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer.

Last year, the Georgia native became the first East Carolina player in program history to win two postseason awards and only the third Defensive Player of the Year in team history (the first since 2008).

With her playing experience, she will give LSU an experienced voice on the court while also adding depth to the Tigers’ defensive unit.

The coaching staff

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

Joining her team are assistant coaches Antony Blackburn and Conor Cable. Blackburn is from Derby, England, and initially joined the Tigers as an analyst in the fall of 2023. He will primarily help plan and execute training sessions, individual development plans, and prepare for opponents. Prior to joining LSU, Blackburn was the U14 head coach of Valencia CF (Valencia, Spain), one of the most prestigious academies in the world of professional soccer.

Cable comes to the Tigers from Lake Erie College, where he spent five years helping lead the squad to new heights. Cable will primarily lead the LSU goaltending department and oversee LSU Soccer’s community service and social events.

The Spalding, England native brings a wealth of experience to Baton Rouge, both from his previous work with Lake Erie’s goalkeeping department and his own professional experiences. Cable came through the professional system in England, playing for various Premier League and Championship clubs, including Norwich City and Cardiff City, and spent his youth academy time at Bristol City Football Club.

Under Hudson’s leadership, the LSU Tigers achieved significant milestones during the 2023 season, making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and reaching the postseason for the third consecutive year – the most consecutive appearances by any coach in LSU history. Most notably, Hudson secured their first LSU NCAA Tournament victory with a first-round win over Lamar on November 11, 2022.

This upcoming season, Hudson and her team will look to make it to their fourth consecutive NCAA appearance and LSU’s 10th overall. The Tigers also hope to make it the team’s 14th 10-win season while also pursuing an SEC and national championship.

Attendance is another important element for the Tigers, as Hudson and her team aim to set new attendance records at LSU Soccer Stadium in 2024. Three of the program’s top 10 largest crowds occurred during Hudson’s tenure.

“I will work tirelessly with my staff and team to achieve the success our Tiger fans deserve,” Hudson said. “Witnessing the growth of football in Louisiana during my time here has been incredibly rewarding and we look to build on that every year.”

The squad for 2024

This year’s team is a mix of young and experienced players. The roster consists of 29 players, including one graduate student, two seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and ten freshmen.

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

LSU has welcomed four new recruits for the upcoming season: Ferguson, Cheesman, Sophine Kevorkian (USD) and Gabbi Ceballos (TCU).

Experienced seniors include Baker, Humbyrd and Tori Gillis, all of whom are entering 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 field this year after missing the 2023 season due to injury.

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

Freshmen include Riley MacDonald, Amy Smith, Annaleigh Bruser, Katelyn Holt, Emerson DeLuca, Ava Amsden, Aurora Gaines, Senai Rogers, Sarah Stadler and Natalie Dvorakova.

With Scheving, there are now four national players in the LSU squad. Along with Hermannsdottir, she is the second Tiger player from Reykjavik, Iceland. Other countries represented in the squad are Sweden and the Czech Republic.

The full 2024 LSU football roster can be found Here.

The schedule for 2024

LSU officially opens the new season on Thursday, August 15, against South Alabama in Mobile. The Tigers’ schedule includes eight games at LSU Soccer Stadium this year.

The Tigers’ first home game will be against Arizona State on Sunday, August 25. The team will also welcome Utah, UL-Lafayette, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Auburn and Texas to Baton Rouge before concluding its home game against Vanderbilt on Thursday, October 24.

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

The team will face ten SEC opponents in this year’s regular season, including newest league members Texas and Oklahoma.

View the full 2024 LSU football schedule with game times Here.

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