BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team will resume competition after nearly a two-week hiatus on Wednesday, as the Tigers travel to face the South Alabama Jaguars at 7 p.m. in Mobile, Ala.
“I think that this is going to be a great test for us,” said LSU head coach George Fotopoulos. “We’re playing a very good team in South Alabama and I feel that they will be a very good test for us because we’re not mentally where we need to be right now. After the unfortunate tragedies of last week, we’re just trying to get our lives back.”
LSU’s previous game took place on Sept. 9, only two days before the devastating terrorist attacks on both New York City and Washington D.C. The Tigers were victorious in the contest by defeating Louisiana-Lafayette, 3-0, to improve to 2-1 on the season. With the win, LSU increased its winning streak against in-state rivals to seven games.
The Jaguars head into the matchup with an overall record of 1-3-1 and in the midst of a two-game winless streak. South Alabama’s lone win of the season was a 2-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. The shutout was the Jaguars’ first of the 2001 season.
South Alabama is a couple of tough breaks away from owning a 3-2 record on the season. In the Jaguars’ opening contest, they were upset by the University of Jacksonville, 0-1, in overtime. South Alabama was then forced to settle for a tie in a double-overtime game against Wyoming. The epic battle ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
“South Alabama is a very good team,” Fotopoulos said. “We’re definitely the underdogs in this game and they are a team that is going to be in the NCAA Tournament down the road. This will be a great test to see how our team stacks up against those who will play in the NCAA Tournament.”
The Tigers trail South Alabama in the all-time series by a count of 2-3. In the most recent contest between the two schools, the Jaguars bested LSU, 4-2, in 1999. The game took place at the LSU Soccer Complex and dropped the Tigers to an overall record of 4-14-1 on the season.
Wednesday’s match will be only the second of the six meetings between LSU and South Alabama to take place in Mobile, Ala. The Jaguars topped LSU, 4-0, in the first contest at AThe Cage.”
“Right now, as the coach of this team, I’m just trying to get us refocused on playing soccer,” said Fotopoulos. “I know it’s hard to concentrate after something of this magnitude happens, but it’s my job to get us ready to play tomorrow.”
The LSU soccer team will play its first road contest of the 2001 season on Wednesday, as the Tigers travel to face the South Alabama Jaguars at 7 p.m. in “The Cage.”