ATHENS, Ga. — After completing its first winning season since 1996, the LSU Tiger soccer team travels to Athens, Georgia as the No. 5 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament to face the No. 4 seed Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. CT on Thursday at the Georgia Women’s Soccer Stadium.
This is the third appearance the Tigers will make at the SEC Tournament after posting a record of 15-5 for the 2000 season.? LSU also went 5-4 in SEC play and clinched the Western Division Runner-up.? LSU has not made an appearance in the Tournament since 1998 when the Tigers went 8-11-2.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play Kentucky,” said head coach George Fotopoulos.? “We feel we match up with them well.? This is an opportunity for this program to take a major step forward.? We have never won an SEC Tournament game before, so we hope to gain a measure of credibility against Kentucky.”?
LSU is 0-2 all-time in SEC Tournament history.? The Tigers made their first appearance in 1995, losing 4-0 to Kentucky in Auburn, Ala.? LSU faced Vanderbilt in its 1998 Tournament appearance losing 3-0 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.?
The Tigers are hoping to use their previous meeting earlier this season with Kentucky as a learning experience for the Thursday match against the Wildcats.? Coming off of key wins over Vanderbilt and Tulane, the Tigers look to use the momentum to propel them past Kentucky.?
LSU is 0-5 all-time against the Wildcats.? Kentucky defeated the Tigers last on Oct. 20 in Lexington 3-1.? The Wildcats took the lead, but were answered by a Tiger goal by senior Somalia Lindsay.? The Tigers held the game close until a late goal by the Wildcats to pull ahead at 2-1.? Kentucky did not score the third goal until the last second of the match.
The winner of the LSU/Kentucky match will go on to face the winner of the 11 p.m. Florida vs. Arkansas match at 3 p.m. on Friday.? Vanderbilt and Tennessee play at 4 p.m. and Georgia and Ole Miss play at 6:30 p.m. The? winner of those two matches will play each other at 6 p.m. on Friday.? The Championship game will be played at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.? The Tournament is single elimination.
agate to follow:
2000 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament
November 2-5 at the Georgia Soccer Stadium in Athens, Ga.
Round One
Thursday, Nov. 2
Match 1? — #8 Arkansas vs. #1 Florida — 11p.m. CT
Match 2 — # 5 LSU vs. # 4 Kentucky — 1:30 p.m. CT
Match 3 — #6 Vanderbilt vs. #3 Tennessee — 4 p.m. CT
Match 4 — # 7 Georgia vs. #2 Ole Miss — 6:30 p.m. CT
Round Two
Friday, Nov. 3
Match 5 — Match 1 winner vs Match 2 Winner — 3 p.m. CT
Match 6 — Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner — 6 p.m. CT
Finals
Sunday, Nov. 5
Match 7 — Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner — 2:30 p.m. CT