BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team looks to rebound from a pair of losses in the Oregon Classic as it goes on the road to battle in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette at the Cajun Track and Soccer Complex on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Tigers (0-2) own a 4-0 record all-time versus UL-Lafayette (0-1-1) and an 8-2-1 mark against teams from the Sun Belt Conference, including a current four-game winning streak dating back to a 4-0 shutout of Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 13, 2002.
LSU also defeated the Ragin’ Cajuns in Lafayette by the score of 4-0 in their last meeting on Sept. 19, 2003.
“Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice release for our team from everything that’s been going on in Baton Rouge and LSU over the last several days,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We want to turn a corner Sunday and try to refocus ourselves on day-to-day life. This will help them get back into a nice routine.”
LSU is coming off two tough losses to teams from the Pac-10 Conference in the Oregon Classic in Eugene last weekend. The Tigers dropped a hard-fought match to Oregon State in overtime, 2-1, on Aug. 26 and was shutout by tournament host Oregon, 2-0, on Aug. 28.
“With everything that has been going on, it helps to keep what happened last weekend in perspective,” Lee said. “It’s meant as a release, and to be able to go out and play hard and run hard really feels good.”
Sunday’s game, which was supposed to be played in Baton Rouge, has been moved to Lafayette due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lee said he is proud of his players for stepping up and volunteering their time to help the victims affected by the storm.
“We did some organized volunteer work as a team the first day or two when people started coming to LSU, then we left it to each individual person on how much they wanted to help out and volunteer in whatever way they felt was appropriate,” Lee said. “They’ve really stepped up and done a whole lot. It’s been fantastic.”
The Tigers are scheduled to return to Baton Rouge for their home opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday at 7 p.m., but Lee said that is subject to change due to the current situation in Baton Rouge. Stay tuned to LSUsports.net for further details.