BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team, fresh off of a 4-2 win over Alabama on Sunday, looks for its second straight SEC win as it travels to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday at 6 p.m. CDT at Eugene Stone III Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
The Tigers (8-7-2, 3-3-2 SEC) hope to avenge their 3-0 loss at the hands of the Gamecocks (10-5-2, 4-2-2 SEC) on Senior Day last season as they are 1-5-1 in the all-time series. LSU’s lone win over South Carolina was a 1-0 shutout during its inaugural season of 1995.
“South Carolina will present a great challenge for our team when we meet on Friday,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “They’re especially tough at home, and we’ll have to compete for 90 minutes to get the result we want. We’re still in position to compete for the SEC West, and finishing strong in our last three games will go a long way in reaching that goal.”
The Gamecocks are the only team in the SEC to remain unbeaten at home this season as they carry a 7-0-2 record in Columbia heading into Friday’s match. They have proven to be the top defensive team in the league by allowing just 10 goals in 17 matches with an SEC best 0.57 goals against average.
Junior goalkeeper Laura Armstrong has led South Carolina’s defensive effort for much of the season as she has been credited with five shutouts and has the lowest goals against average in the SEC at 0.56. Sophomore forward Felicia Schroeder leads the Gamecocks’ offensive attack as she ranks among the SEC leaders with seven goals and 16 points on the season.
“South Carolina has proven to be a really tough place for opposing teams to play this season,” Lee said. “A lot of that has to do with the fact they play outstanding defense. They are very organized along the back line, and teams have had a lot of difficulty breaking them down and creating chances to score for much of the season.”
The Tigers have been led in recent weeks by the stellar play of sophomore forward Roslyn Jones, who was named to the Women’s College National Team of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer on Tuesday. Jones scored a pair of goals in LSU’s win over Alabama on Sunday, including the game-winner in the 28th minute, and finished with three goals on the weekend.
The Tigers follow their trip to South Carolina with a home match against the 12th-ranked Florida Gators on Sunday at noon at the LSU Soccer Complex in a game scheduled to be televised live by Cox Sports Television. The first 250 fans entering the stadium will receive a free LSU Soccer keychain courtesy of the LSU Marketing and Promotions Department.