BATON ROUGE — The first week of fall camp is in the books for the LSU soccer team as head coach Brian Lee has put his squad through a series of seven training sessions in preparation for its season opener at home against South Alabama on Aug. 22.
The Tigers will battle the Jaguars at 7 p.m. in the first of 11 matches scheduled at the LSU Soccer Complex. Fans can reserve their season tickets for each of LSU’s 11 home matches by logging on to www.LSUsports.net or by contacting the LSU ticket office at 225-578-8226.
With three consecutive two-a-day training sessions already under their belt, the Tigers received a bit of relief on Saturday morning with just one two-hour practice at the LSU Soccer Complex.
Lee put his troops through 30 minutes of functional work at the beginning of practice followed by 90 minutes of simulated game situations and positional drills in order to work their way in to game shape. Lee said that his team has continued to place an emphasis on fitness through the first week while also working to master his defensive principles and attacking philosophy.
“We’ve had a great first week of practice, but there’s still a lot of work to be done in fall camp to get ready for our season opener in less than two weeks,” Lee said. “It’s been an intense week of practice for our team. We have a veteran group, and our girls have come to camp with a receptive mindset to the principles we’re trying to teach. That’s also creating positive team chemistry.
“I’ve been very pleased with the effort and fitness they’ve shown through four days of camp, and they will get a well-deserved day off Sunday to spend some time with their fans.”
Like the football team, the LSU soccer team will take part in Fan Day festivities on Sunday at the River Center in downtown Baton Rouge as they will sign autographs and interact with their fans from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the Exhibition Hall. Posters and schedule cards will be available to all.
“This will be a great opportunity for our fans to stop by on Fan Day and spend some time with the team before the start of the season,” Lee said. “We’ve got some great fans, and we’re appreciative of all the support they’ve given us these last few years. They are as much a part of our success as anything. We certainly hope they come out and spend some time with us tomorrow.”
The squad returns to the practice field on Monday with its fourth two-a-day practice of camp as it has 11 more training sessions scheduled before its season opener.