EUGENE, Ore. — The LSU soccer team hopes to earn its first victory of the season Sunday as it takes on tournament host Oregon in the second game of the Oregon Classic at Pape’ Field.
The Tigers dropped a tough match to Oregon State in overtime Friday, 2-1, while the Ducks shutout Eastern Washington, 1-0, with the game-winning goal being scored on a penalty kick by Nicole Garbin at the 23:26 mark of the first half.
Oregon is a team that finished the 2004 season with a 3-13-3 overall record, including an 0-7-2 mark in the Pac-10 Conference, but LSU head coach Brian Lee said it is dangerous to overlook any team from a conference like the Pac-10.
“Oregon, with a new coaching staff, has a lot of excitement around their program,” Lee said. “Everybody in the Pac-10 is a quality opponent, and we are going to have to be better than we were on Friday to have a chance to win.”
Assistant coach Debbie Hensley said that she was pleased with the team’s ability to create scoring chances against Oregon State, but that the team must capitalize on those opportunities to have success against Oregon.
“When we put things together offensively, we were dangerous and in a position to score,” Hensley said. “We would like to keep possession of the ball and give ourselves more chances to score. That’s something that we got out of in our first game that we would like to improve on.”
LSU will return to Baton Rouge and the LSU Soccer Complex for its home opener Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. against South Alabama followed by a home match against in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 4 at noon.