BATON ROUGE — Second-year LSU head coach Brian Lee and his coaching staff welcomed 23 student-athletes to campus Tuesday as the soccer team is set to begin fall camp this week in preparation for the upcoming season.
Among those reporting are 11 returning letterwinners from a season ago and 12 incoming freshmen comprising the nation’s seventh-ranked recruiting class signed in the spring according to Soccer Buzz Magazine.
“We’re excited to get this group of girls on campus and start preparing for what will surely be an exciting 2006 season,” Lee said. “This is the most talented team ever assembled at LSU, and we anticipate the girls working very hard these next few weeks to solidify our lineup for the start of the season.”
The Tigers begin fall camp Wednesday with their first two-a-day practices as Lee will put his squad through a conditioning test at 7 a.m. at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium followed by its first full practice at 6 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.
“Our morning workout will be more of a conditioning gauge as opposed to a test,” Lee said. “We just want to see where the girls are at the start of camp and what they need to work toward from a conditioning standpoint to be ready for the season. We have the best strength and conditioning program in the country, and we’re confident they’ll work hard to be ready to go in the fall.”
Absent is junior midfielder Caroline Vanderpool, who has returned home to Canada to prepare for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with the U-20 Canadian National Team. This event is scheduled to last from Aug. 17-Sept. 3 with matches being held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia.
“We’ll miss Caroline during fall camp, but this will be a great experience for her to represent her country and go up against some of the best women soccer players in the world,” Lee said. “She’ll miss the first few games of the season but will slide right into a spot in either the midfield or back line when she rejoins the team on Sept. 5.”
The Tigers are set to open the season on the road against nationally-ranked SMU in Dallas on Aug. 25.