BATON ROUGE ? For the first time in the 13-year history of the program, the LSU soccer team has cracked the national rankings after earning a No. 19 ranking in the latest Soccer America Top 25 released by the publication Monday morning.
The Tigers (8-1-4, 2-0-2 SEC) are coming off of a historic weekend as they earned their first ever win over an opponent ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation with a dominating 3-0 shutout of then sixth-ranked Tennessee on Friday night.
They followed that performance with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against previously 18th-ranked Georgia on Sunday. LSU is now 1-0-2 against ranked opponents this season as they also played the newly crowned No. 1 Texas Longhorns to a 2-2 draw in Austin on Sept. 18.
“We are in a new era of LSU soccer, and we expect excellence in everything we do on and off the field,” Lee said. “Rankings don’t mean a whole right now, but it’s a testament to our kids and the hard worked they’ve put into preparing for this season. It’s important for us to stay focused on the task at hand to be in the same position at the end of the season.”
LSU is the highest ranked squad in the Southeastern Conference in this week’s Soccer America Top 25 as Tennessee follows closely behind at No. 20 and Georgia following at No. 22.
The Tigers return to the pitch next weekend as they kick off a four-game SEC road swing against the Auburn Tigers on Friday in a match scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Auburn Soccer Complex. It follows with a short trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 14 in a match slated for 1 p.m.
Soccer America Top 25
Team (2007 Record) Last Week
1. Texas (8-1-2) 2 — played to 2-2 draw with LSU in Austin on Sept. 18
2. UCLA (7-1-2) 3
3. Stanford (8-1-1) 1
4. Virginia (8-1-3) 5
5. Missouri (8-2-0) 6
6. Santa Clara (7-2-2) 4
7. Penn State (9-2-1) 8
8. Purdue (11-1-2) 9
9. Southern California (8-1-1) 10
10. Boston College (8-0-3) 11
11. California (8-2-0) 12
12. Portland (7-3-0) 13
13. North Carolina (9-3-0) 15
14. Texas A&M (9-2-1) 16
15. BYU (10-0-2) 17
16. San Diego (9-1-2) 19
17. Notre Dame (7-4-1) 20
18. Florida State (7-3-2) 22
19. LSU (8-1-4) NR
20. Tennessee (7-2-2) 7 — lost 3-0 to LSU on Oct. 5
21. Clemson (8-2-1) 14
22. Georgia (10-1-1) 18 — played to 1-1 draw with LSU on Oct. 7
23. Duke (7-2-3) NR
24. Connecticut (9-2-1) 24
T25. Indiana (9-1-2) 25
T25. Washington State (7-1-2) 25