BATON ROUGE — The 17th-ranked LSU soccer team will look to extend its winning streak in the Southeastern Conference to four straight games on Friday night as it welcomes Vanderbilt to the LSU Soccer Complex in a match scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Tigers enter Friday’s match alone in first place atop the SEC West with a 10-2 overall record and a 4-2 mark with 12 points in league play with five regular season games remaining.
LSU seized control of its own destiny in the division race with a pair of wins last week, outlasting Auburn in overtime by the score of 2-1 on Oct. 10 before crushing Alabama by a 7-0 margin on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers lead second-place Auburn by two points in the division standings, while Ole Miss and Alabama are three points back in a tie for third place.
LSU has proven to be nearly unbeatable at home in four seasons under head coach Brian Lee, and the club is riding a school record 16-game home unbeaten streak entering Friday’s match. LSU is 12-0-4 at the LSU Soccer Complex since dropping a 2-1 decision to Auburn on Oct. 13, 2006.
With a win over the Commodores, the Tigers would set a new school record for consecutive wins in SEC play after equaling the current mark of three games with a pair of wins last weekend.
“We certainly feel like we’re starting to play better at the right time of the season,” Lee said. “It’s something that we will have to continue if we hope to come out of here with a win tomorrow night. Vanderbilt is a very good team that has the personnel to compete with anybody in the SEC. We have a lot of respect for their program and the way they play the game.”
Vanderbilt is riding high following a 1-0 shutout of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in Knoxville on Sunday as it marked the club’s first win over the Lady Vols since 2005. The Commodores are 8-5-1 on the season with a 2-4 mark and six points in conference action.
They are led by the play of sophomore forward Molly Kinsella, who is the team’s top scorer with five goals and four assists for 14 points in 14 matches this season.
The Commodores have dominated the all-time series as they boast a 7-2-2 mark against LSU, but the Tigers were the better side in Nashville on Oct. 19 of last season when they earned a 2-0 win. The win was LSU’s first over the Commodores since the 2000 season.
“Vanderbilt is a very dangerous team, and we’re going to have to play with great intensity for the full 90 minutes to come away with a result,” Lee said. “Every game in the SEC is a big game, but especially at this time of the season because we’re starting to come down the home stretch. Points will be hard to come by as teams battle for postseason position. It will be no different on Friday.”
The Tigers will counter with one of the more feared offensive attacks in the league as they are the only side with at least four players scoring five goals or more this fall.
Junior All-American and Hermann Trophy candidate Malorie Rutledge is the most prolific scorer in the SEC with seven goals and 12 assists for 26 points, including a league-leading six goals and five assists for 17 points in conference play. Rutledge is the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week and has scored the game-winner in each of LSU’s three wins during its current streak.
Junior Michelle Makasini is tied with Rutledge for the team lead with seven goals to go along with 18 points, while fellow junior Rachel Yepez has scored six goals and 18 points of her own in 2008. Senior captain Roslyn Jones has added five goals and 14 points for the Tigers this fall.
While scoring 2.67 goals per game in six SEC matches to rank second in the league, the Tigers have also been stingy on the defensive end as they lead the SEC with a 1.00 goals against average in conference play. Vanderbilt ranks No. 7 (1.33) and No. 10 (1.98) in the SEC, respectively.
Friday will be International Night at the LSU Soccer Complex with the first 250 fans entering the stadium receiving an LSU Soccer international cup. At halftime, fans will have the opportunity to watch an international friendly between Brazil and Italy. It will also be West Feliciana Soccer Association Night with members of the organization receiving free admission to the game.
After battling the Commodores on Friday, the Tigers will wrap up their four-game homestand on Sunday as they play host to the Kentucky Wildcats at 1 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.