BATON ROUGE — Fresh off of its 2-0 shutout of Mississippi State on Sunday, the LSU soccer team looks to earn its second-straight victory in the Southeastern Conference on Friday when it takes on Georgia at 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers (5-4-2, 1-2-1 SEC) are 1-5 all-time versus the Bulldogs and dropped a 2-1 decision to Georgia when the two teams met at the Georgia Soccer Stadium in Athens last season. LSU defeated the Bulldogs, 4-1, in 2003 for its lone victory in the series.
“This is a battle of two teams trying to move up in the standings,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “You’ve got two first-year head coaches who have reenergized both programs. It’s a dividing line for both teams and a chance for either one of us to move forward in the standings.”
Patrick Baker has guided the Bulldogs to an 8-3-1 overall record on the year and a 2-2 record in SEC play in just his first season as head coach of the program. Georgia finished 4-9-5 overall and 2-6-3 in the SEC in 2004.
The Bulldogs rank at the top of the SEC in nearly every offensive category as they are tied for second in goals per game (2.33) and third in assists per game (2.25), points per game (6.92) and shots per game (20.58). They also rank second with a 0.57 goals against average on the defensive end.
Senior forward Ali Williams has been Georgia’s top performer this season as she is second in the SEC with nine goals and 18 points and has attempted 44 shots, including 21 shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Lauren Church has recorded five shutouts on the season and ranks third in the conference with a 0.58 goals against average.
“They’ve got some dynamic kids on their team,” Lee said. “Ali Williams up top is a good goal scorer and a nice poacher of goals. We’ll have to be careful about how we defend them, and our back line needs to play well. They are certainly a talented group.”
LSU enters the match in third place in the SEC Western Division behind only Ole Miss and Auburn and would be the No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament if the season ended today.
Senior forward Kate Ripple and junior forward Joleen Phillips each scored a goal against Mississippi State and have combined to score 11 of 14 goals for the Tigers this season. Ripple currently leads the team and is tied for third in the SEC with six goals, while Phillips follows closely behind with five.
Freshman goalkeeper Jackie Moseley enters the match in a tie for fourth on the school’s all-time list for shutouts with four on the season and has recorded a 0.77 goals against average. Moseley is tied with Allison Holladay and Elizabeth Swinson, who lettered at LSU in 1995 and 1998, respectively.
“Jackie Moseley comes from a great youth environment where she has been trained by some of the top people in the country coming in, so she’s a very accomplished goalkeeper,” Lee said. “We’ve been pleased with her play this season, but our entire back line has played great — Holly Davis, Veronica Godbolt, Tara Mitnick and Roslyn Jones. They’ve been steady all year long.”
The theme for Friday’s match is “Soccer Rocks” with a live concert by popular student band Lazy K on the practice field adjacent to the LSU Soccer Complex immediately following the match. Friday is also Youth Group Night in which all church youth groups and group leaders receive free admission to the game courtesy of The Advocate.