BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team is off to a fast start in Southeastern Conference play and is set to battle the sixth-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Friday in a match scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers (7-1-3, 1-0-1 SEC) are seeking their first win against Tennessee (7-1-1, 2-0-0 SEC) as the Lady Vols are a perfect 9-0 in the all-time series that dates back to the 1996 season.
LSU opened the SEC season this past weekend with a 1-0 shutout of Mississippi State on Friday night followed by a 1-1 draw with Ole Miss on Sunday, while Tennessee defeated South Carolina in overtime by the score of 3-2 on Friday followed by a 2-0 shutout of Florida on Sunday.
“We know we’re going to get a great effort from Tennessee tomorrow night,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “Angela Kelly has built that program into a perennial power in the SEC, and she has a great team again this year. I’d make the argument that they deserve to be one of the top two or three teams in the country just based on the results they have to this point.”
The Lady Vols have already defeated four nationally-ranked opponents this season, including wins over then 10th-ranked South Carolina and 15th-ranked Florida last weekend. They also boast non-conference wins over No. 7 Penn State and No. 24 Wake Forest earlier in the year.
Tennessee is near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories as it ranks No. 9 in goals (14), No. 10 in points (40) and No. 11 in both assists (12) and shots on goal (62), but the squad is one of the SEC’s leading defensive clubs as it boasts the third best goals against average at 0.64.
Junior midfielder Kylee Rossi leads the offensive attack as the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year is the team’s leading scorer with four goals and 10 points on the year.
“Tennessee is not a club that will sub a whole lot of players, but they don’t stop running during the course of a match,” Lee said. “Angela does a great job of getting her team ready to play, and she’s known as a master motivator. We need to match their intensity and their effort if we hope to come away with a good result tomorrow night.”
Friday’s match pits strength against strength as LSU counters with the premier scoring attack in the SEC. The Tigers lead the league in goals scored (29), assists (28) and points (86), while they also boast the fifth best goals against average at 0.77 and are tied for second with six shutouts.
“We’re looking forward to a great match tomorrow night, and we’ll get a chance to see how we stack up against one of the premier programs in the SEC,” Lee said. “There’s going to be a huge crowd as long as the weather holds out, and hopefully we’ll set a new attendance record yet again. You can’t beat the atmosphere at the Soccer Complex on a Friday night.”
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to reserve their seats as an overflow crowd is expected. Many of the local youth soccer clubs will be in attendance, and a large student contingent will be in the stands as Friday’s match is the second Student Point Game of the season.
Those unable to attend have the opportunity to listen to the match live on the Internet as it will be broadcast live at www.totalsportsradio.com with Jason Kelly on the call.
The Tigers will host nationally-ranked opponents in back-to-back matches at the LSU Soccer Complex for the first time in the 13-year history of the program as they welcome the 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs to town on Sunday in a match scheduled for 1 p.m. The match is scheduled for a live television broadcast on Cox Digital Cable Channel 113.