BATON ROUGE, La. – For the first time since 2016 the HCU women's soccer program is set for NCAA postseason play on Friday evening when the Huskies take on LSU at 7:00 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
HCU (12-8-2) enters the postseason on a five-match win streak that includes a three-game run through the 2025 Southland Conference Tournament as the league's No. 5 seed. Over the last five games, the Huskies have out-scored opponents by a 10-1 margin with the only goal allowed coming in the SLC semifinals against regular season champion Northwestern State.
The Huskies set a new program record for single-season wins with their SLC championship game victory over SFA with the team's 12 wins the most since 2018 when the team finished with 10. Junior forward Olivia Rossman earned SLC Tournament MVP honors with a pair of goals, including the overtime game-winner in the championship. Also earning all-tournament honors were Paisley Barela, Jordan Bushnell, Emmy McKeon, Alexia Murillo and Ella Remy.
HCU saw 13 different players score goals this year, led by junior forward Isabella Dillow with five. Junior Olivia Rossman and sophomore Ella Remy each have four. Senior defender Alexia Murillo has logged a team-high 1,939 minutes on the field and is just 58 minutes away from moving into the program's top-10 for career minutes played. The senior also leads the Huskies this season with five assists.
LSU (13-5-4) comes into Friday's matchup off a heartbreaking 8-7 PK loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC championship match. The Tigers are 6-1-1 on their home field this year with the lone loss coming against Alabama on Sept. 18.
The Tigers are led offensively by junior Ava Galligan who finished the year with 10 goals and four assists, earning first team all-SEC honors. Ida Hermannsdottir and Sariyah Bailey tied for the team-lead with seven assists each while also combining to score 15 goals. LSU out-scored opponents, 46-23, over the course of the season.
In goal, Sophine Kevorkian and Audur Scheving split time almost evenly with Scheving earning the start for the final three games of the SEC Tournament. Scheving owns a 0.85 goals against average with a .786 save percentage.
The winner of Friday's game will go on to face the winner of South Dakota State and Iowa in the NCAA Second Round.
