BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team announced its finalized 2001 game schedule on Saturday in which the Tigers are slated to compete in eight home contests, nine road battles, two neutral site games and will host the 2001 Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time in school history.
“This is probably going to be one of the toughest schedules that LSU has had in a long time,” said head coach George Fotopoulos. “We’re playing a lot of talented teams on the road this season, and I think that in the long run it will be very beneficial for us as a program. The SEC is going to be very tough again this year and every game is going to be a war.”
The LSU soccer program heads into its seventh year of existence in 2001 and the upcoming schedule deems to be the toughest yet in Tigertown. The Tigers open the season with a home contest against McNeese State on Aug. 31, before hosting the defending SEC Florida Gators on Sept. 7.
LSU looks to earn its first victory over the Gators as Florida leads the all-time series, 3-0. In the teams’ most recent contest in 1999, Florida defeated the Tigers, 11-0, at home in Gainesville, Fla.
After the early season duel with Florida, the Tigers begin a seven-game stretch against non-conference opponents with a home game versus Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 9. LSU will then hit the road for three-straight contests as they travel to Baltimore, Md., to play both Towson and Loyola (Md.), before concluding the trip with a match against South Alabama on Sept. 19, in Mobile, Ala.
The Tigers then host both Nicholls State and Auburn-Montgomery in a weekend home-stand on Sept. 21 and 23, before heading to Huntsville, Ala., for a non-conference game against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. Last season, LSU tied its all-time record for most goals scored in a single game by defeating Alabama A&M, 10-0, at the LSU Soccer Complex.
October represents the heart of SEC competition for the 2001 LSU soccer team as the Tigers face seven conference foes throughout the month. LSU welcomes Ole Miss and Mississippi State to Baton Rouge during the first weekend of competition in October, prior to heading to Natchitoches, La., to face Northwestern State in the final in-state contest of the season. LSU then returns home to battle South Carolina in what could be the Tigers’ last home game of the season on Sunday, Oct. 14.
The LSU soccer team concludes the 2001 regular season with six road matches. The Tigers head to Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee and Arkansas to finish off their SEC schedule, and then travel to Austin, Texas, for a vital non-conference match-up against the Texas Longhorns in the final regular season game of the season.
“Those last few road trips are really going to define our season,” Fotopoulos said. “We play a majority of our SEC contests during those trips and they will play a major factor in how we finish up in the division this season.”
Baton Rouge will play host to the ninth-annual SEC Tournament this season which will be held at the LSU Soccer Complex on November 8-11. The postseason tournament consists of the top eight teams in the conference as well as many of the nation’s top-caliber athletes. LSU is poised to qualify for the tournament for the second-straight season and hopes to win its first postseason contest while performing in front of raucous home crowd.
The LSU soccer team is currently practicing three times daily at 7 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in preparation for the upcoming season opener versus the McNeese State Cowgirls on Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.