BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team looks to extend its unbeaten streak to seven games Friday when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the 14th-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers at 6 p.m. CDT in the “SEC Soccer Match of the Week.”
The Tigers (7-4-2, 2-0-2 SEC) are riding their first four-game unbeaten streak in conference play in the program’s 11-year history and have earned a No. 10 ranking in the Central Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for their stellar play during the streak.
“The team is playing well right now and meeting the challenge of SEC competition from a physical standpoint,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “The kids have been ready to go all four games, and they recognize what goals that we’re trying to accomplish this season. They’re doing everything they can to get us there.”
The Tigers remain tied atop the SEC Western Division standings at eight points with arch-rival Ole Miss after earning a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the Rebels at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium on Sunday. They also posted a 1-0 shutout of Mississippi State on Friday night with freshman Michelle Makasini scoring the game-winner on a free kick in the 65th minute.
“This team has tremendous fight and has really shown that all year long with the way they’ve competed against a very tough, demanding schedule,” Lee said. “It was big for us to get four points on the road in a league like the SEC. We played very well and were certainly happy to come back to Baton Rouge with four big points.”
LSU is looking for its first ever win against the Lady Volunteers as Tennessee (5-3-3, 1-1-2 SEC) holds a commanding 8-0 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1996 season. The Lady Vols earned a pair of 2-0 shutouts last season, including a win in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Nov. 3.
Sophomore forward Kylee Rossi leads the offensive attack for Tennessee as she leads the team with four goals and nine points on the season. Rossi is the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week and was named to the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week for her two-goal performance in the Lady Vols’ 2-1 win over 12th-ranked Florida on Sunday.
“Tennessee is without question one of the best teams in the country,” Lee said. “They beat Virginia, Stanford and Florida, and they drew Penn State earlier this year. Those are four of the top 15 programs in the country. It’s a big game for us Friday night and will go a long way into determining who will win the SEC.”
The Tigers wrap up their four-game SEC road trip Sunday when they travel to Athens, Ga., to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in a match scheduled for 1 p.m. They return home next weekend as they welcome a pair of Western Division rivals to the LSU Soccer Complex with matches against Auburn on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. and Alabama on Oct. 15 at 1 p.m.