BATON ROUGE — Leadership is a key component of any championship program, and seniors Casey Crawford and Roslyn Jones have accepted that role this season as they haven been elected captains of the LSU soccer team in a vote of their teammates.
This marks the second straight season that Crawford will serve as a team captain after leading the Tigers to an SEC Western Division championship and NCAA Tournament berth a year ago.
“It’s definitely a great honor to be able to serve as a captain again this season, and it’s a role and responsibility I take very seriously,” Crawford said. “But we want everybody to step up and be a captain of this team. It’s important that we all accept a leadership role for this team if we hope to continue to build on the foundation that has been established these last few years.”
Jones has quickly developed into one of the more feared strikers in the Southeastern Conference as the former Second-Team All-SEC selection returns after scoring seven goals and 21 points last season and a total of 16 goals and 42 points in two years at the forward position.
Like Crawford, she has also demonstrated the ability to be a leader both on and off the field as a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and academic all-district selection by ESPN.
“I know both Casey and I take a lot of pride in the opportunity we’ve been given to serve as team captains this year,” Jones said. “I’m honored that the girls on this team have enough faith in me to take on that kind of responsibility this season. I’m just going to try to lead by example day in and day out in everything that I do to prove that I’m worthy of such a great honor.”
LSU head coach Brian Lee is excited about the potential of his squad once again and believes that the leadership role both Crawford and Jones have embraced will be a key to its success.
“We’re really excited about both Casey and Roslyn taking on leadership roles and being named the captains of this team,” Lee said. “In my opinion, there is no higher honor than to be selected as a captain by your teammates. Both have proven to be great leaders on and off the field in their time at LSU and deserve the rank of captain in their senior seasons.”
Crawford, Jones and the rest of the Tigers will kick off the 2008 season on Aug. 22 as they play host to the South Alabama Jaguars in a match scheduled for 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex. Fans still have the opportunity to reserve their season tickets for all 11 home matches by logging on to www.LSUsports.net or by calling the LSU ticket office at 225-578-2184.