BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team, fresh off of a 0-0 draw in its SEC opener against Vanderbilt on Friday, will put its three-game unbeaten streak on the line Sunday when it welcomes Kentucky to the LSU Soccer Complex in a match scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Tigers (5-4-1, 0-0-1 SEC) are seeking their first ever win against the Wildcats (5-3-1, 0-0-0 SEC) as Kentucky holds an 8-0-1 advantage in the series. The two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in their SEC opener in Lexington, Ky., on Sept. 23 of last season.
“Friday night was a turning point for this team by how they competed against an NCAA (Tournament) caliber team,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “It’s a game we certainly feel like we could have and should have won, but it’s a great result against a great team. Our kids played like champions and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they competed.”
LSU sits atop the SEC Western Division with one point after its 0-0 draw on Friday, while Kentucky saw its conference opener against Arkansas postponed due to inclement weather in the Fayetteville area. The Wildcats have won four of their last five matches, including shutout victories over Big 10 Conference foes Ohio State and Michigan.
Freshman forward Giuleana Lopez is the Wildcats’ leading scorer after nine matches as she has scored three goals and tallied nine points on the season. Junior midfielder Megan Jones was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 for her play in Kentucky’s weekend sweep of the Buckeyes and Wolverines on Sept. 8-10.
“Kentucky has played one of the more difficult non-conference schedules in the league this year, so they’re ready for what they’ll face in the SEC,” Lee said. “They have a couple of big wins over regionally-ranked teams (Ohio State and Michigan) and are 3-1 against the Big 10 this year. They certainly have our full attention coming in.”
Junior goalkeeper Valerie Vogler has proven to be a defensive stalwart in goal for the Tigers as she has received the starting nod in LSU’s last three matches while earning a 2-0-1 record on the season. Vogler has doubled her career shutout total with two in the last three matches and has posted a 0.29 goals against average on the season.
“Val has stepped into the starting role and performed the way we expected she would,” Lee said. “She’s experienced and has been steady for this team for three years now. She made some great saves against Vanderbilt on Friday that kept us in the game and put us in a position to come away with a result.”
The Tigers kick off a four-game conference road trip when they travel to Starkville, Miss., on Friday to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a match scheduled for 7 p.m. They follow with a match against the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Oxford, Miss.