BATON ROUGE — The defending SEC Western Division champion LSU soccer team will take on seven clubs that earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament a year ago as part of a challenging 2008 schedule announced by head coach Brian Lee on Monday.
The Tigers will kick off their fall slate at home against South Alabama on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. CDT before welcoming the BYU Cougars to the LSU Soccer Complex on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.
The Cougars won their fifth Mountain West Conference Tournament championship in program history in 2007 before falling to the Texas Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they have advanced in each of the last three seasons.
LSU will then go on the road for the first time on Aug. 30 as they take on Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern in a match to be held at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Ill., in the opening match of the Northwestern Tournament. The Tigers are set to close the tournament against Loyola-Chicago on Sept. 1 after the Ramblers also advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007.
Following their trip to Northwestern, the Tigers return home to host a tournament of their own as they take on Kent State on Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. and Dartmouth on Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. as part of the inaugural TigerSoccerCamp.com Classic at the LSU Soccer Complex.
LSU is set to renew its rivalry with in-state foe UL-Lafayette on Sept. 12 as the Tigers and Ragin’ Cajuns will battle for the first time since the 2006 season on Sept. 12 in Lafayette.
After making the short trip down Interstate-10 to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns, LSU returns home to play host to the Houston Cougars on Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. before wrapping up the non-conference schedule in Norman, Okla., with a game against the Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 on Sept. 19.
“We always have two goals in mind when putting together our non-conference schedule,” Lee said. “First of all, we want to schedule teams that will prepare our players for the start of SEC play. We feel like we’ve done that with this schedule because we’ll be playing a number of teams from major conferences that have experienced success of their own at the NCAA level.
“We also want to put together a schedule that will put us in a position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament should we not win our own conference tournament at the end of the year. We feel like this schedule certainly meets that standard and will challenge our squad this season.”
With nine non-conference matches under their belt, the Tigers will begin the defense of their first ever SEC Western Division championship on Sept. 26 as they open Southeastern Conference play in Starkville, Miss., against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the MSU Soccer Field.
LSU then travels to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels on Sept. 28 before wrapping up its four-game SEC road swing with a pair of matches against nationally-ranked opponents from the SEC East. The Tigers are set to take on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in Knoxville on Oct. 3 and the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Oct. 5.
Tennessee finished the 2007 season ranked No. 14 nationally after advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16, while Georgia followed closely behind at No. 18 with a berth in the NCAA Second Round.
The Tigers follow their four-game road trip with a four-game homestand beginning with a match that is sure to go a long way in deciding who will be crowed this year’s division champion. They welcome the Auburn Tigers to the LSU Soccer Complex on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. before playing host to the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 12 at 1 p.m.
LSU and Auburn were the only teams from the SEC West to receive an NCAA Tournament berth a year ago with LSU advancing to the second round and Auburn being knocked in the first round. LSU also knocked Auburn out in the first round of the SEC Tournament on penalty kicks.
The Tigers then square off against two SEC Eastern Division opponents with Vanderbilt coming to the LSU Soccer Complex on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. followed by Kentucky on Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.
After traveling to Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 23 to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks, LSU wraps up the regular season with a pair of home matches against NCAA Tournament teams as they battle the reigning SEC champion Florida Gators on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. and the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
“The SEC was as wide open as it’s ever been a year ago, and I don’t think this season will be any different,” Lee said. “There’s tremendous parity in the league right now, and that was certainly the case last year with six teams receiving an NCAA bid. There are quite a few teams that have a chance to win the league title this season, and we feel like we’re one of those teams.
“The SEC has really become a major player on the national scene over the last few years, and we have a great amount of respect for everyone that competes in this league.”
The SEC Soccer Tournament makes its return to the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala., for the fourth straight season as the five-day championship is scheduled to run from Nov. 5-9. The NCAA Tournament kicks off the following weekend as the first round is slated to begin on Nov. 16 at campus sites yet to be determined.