BATON ROUGE — With the success of the 2007 season still fresh in its mind, the LSU soccer team is already looking ahead to 2008 as it kicks off its spring exhibition season Saturday against a pair of national powers from the ACC at the SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
The Tigers take to the field for the first time at 8 a.m. CT against the North Carolina Tar Heels and follow with a match at 9:30 a.m. against the Duke Blue Devils.
LSU hopes this will be the first of two trips to Cary in 2008 as the SAS Soccer Park will play host to the 2008 NCAA Women’s College Cup from Dec. 5-7.
“I can’t think of a better way to open the spring season than playing two elite programs like North Carolina and Duke,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “This exhibition season is all about the development of our players as student-athletes, and there is no better way for our kids to improve than to compete against the very best teams in the country.
“Our players are going to be challenged. That’s what we had in mind when we put together what might be the toughest spring schedule in the country. We look forward to seeing how we stack up against the nation’s best teams.”
North Carolina has set the standard for all women’s college soccer programs across the country as the side has won an unprecedented 18 national championships in its storied history. After winning their last national title in 2006, the Tar Heels finished the 2007 season ranked as high as No. 6 in the country after advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Duke took it one step further in 2007 by advancing to the Elite Eight for the third time in program history. The Blue Devils, who have made 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament with one appearance in the College Cup all-time, finished the season ranked as high as No. 15 nationally.
“This is certainly an important weekend in the development of our players, but I’ve already seen a tremendous growth in the maturity level of our team in just a few weeks of practice,” Lee said. “I’m particularly impressed with the overall fitness level compared to what it was at this time last year. We’ve had two or three really great weeks of practice so far.”
While the Tigers return nine starters from a squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past fall, freshman goalkeeper Mo Isom will be wearing the purple and gold for the first time after enrolling at LSU for the spring semester.
Isom signed with LSU as one of the elite goalkeeper recruits in the country for the Class of 2008 and is a former National Soccer Coaches Association of America Youth All-American.
“It’ll be a lot of fun for our kids to get back on the field after such a long layoff, but it will be especially fun for Mo to get her first taste of what college soccer is like,” Lee said. “I know she’s excited about getting in there and showing us what she can do. We’re fortunate to have her in here for the spring because she will be playing more like a sophomore in the fall.”
After returning from their trip to North Carolina, the Tigers will break for two weeks before traveling to College Station, Texas, on March 2 to take on Big 12 powerhouse Texas A&M at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. Kickoff for the match has yet to be determined.