FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU soccer team finds itself in a must-win situation Friday when it takes on the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.
The Tigers are currently in ninth place in the overall SEC standings with seven points and trail Arkansas for the eighth and final seed by two points. A win would give LSU its first SEC Tournament appearance since 2002.
“We’re excited about it the opportunity that we have,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “The team has worked very hard this year, and it’s been one of our goals to reach the SEC Tournament. That’s certainly attainable. You could say that the tournament really starts for us tomorrow because it’s either win or wait until next year.”
LSU (6-9-2, 2-7-1 SEC) is 4-5-1 all-time against Arkansas (6-11, 3-7 SEC) but has never won at Lady Back Field in its history. Lee said the Lady Razorbacks present a tough challenge for his team as it looks to snap a current five-game losing skid in SEC play.
“Playing in Fayetteville will be a tough environment for us to come out of with a win,” Lee said. “But we really have no choice at this point. What has happened in the past is inconsequential to what we do tomorrow night.”
Arkansas has been led by the play of junior midfielder Christina Burger as she is tops on the team in nearly every offensive category. Burger leads the team and is third in the SEC with seven goals and 18 points and has recorded a team-leading four assists on the season.
“We got to pay close attention to Christina Burger because she is obviously one of the better players in the SEC, but their whole team will be tough to defend,” Lee said. “They are a hard working team and it’ll be a challenge for us tomorrow night. We’re going to have to work just as hard.”
The first round of the SEC Tournament begins Nov. 3 at noon at the Orange Beach Soccer Complex.