BATON ROUGE — With the NCAA Tournament set to begin Friday, the LSU soccer team will carry a No. 14 ranking into its first-round match against Washington on Friday night after earning its 12th straight Top 20 ranking in this week’s Soccer America Top 25.
The Tigers (14-3-2) drop three spots to No. 14 after advancing to the semifinals round of the SEC Tournament for the second straight season where they dropped a penalty kick shootout to tourney champion Tennessee on Friday. LSU defeated Ole Miss by the score of 2-1 in the first round.
After posting its best regular season record in team history, LSU was awarded an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season on Monday night.
The Tigers will travel to College Station, Texas, to battle Washington in the first round on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. The No. 3 seeded Texas A&M Aggies will play host to the regional as they will play Texas State in the opening round. The winners of each match on Friday will meet one another in the second round on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
LSU is also ranked at No. 23 in the Soccer Times Top 25 and No. 26 in the latest Soccer Buzz Top 30.
Friday’s match marks the first time that LSU and Washington will face one another on the soccer pitch as the Huskies are ranked as high as No. 22 nationally in this week’s Soccer Buzz Top 30. Washington enters the match with a 14-5-1 overall record and a 5-3-1 mark in the Pac-10. In fact, the Huskies tied defending national champion USC for the No. 3 spot in the league this season.
The champion of the College Station regional will advance to the Sweet 16 next weekend to be held at a campus site yet to be determined. The NCAA quarterfinals will be held Nov. 28-30 with the last four teams advancing to the 2008 NCAA Women’s College Cup in Cary, N.C., Dec. 5-7.
SOCCER AMERICA TOP 25
Team (Record) Last Week
1. Notre Dame (21-0-0) 1
2. UCLA (18-0-2) 2
3. Stanford (18-1-1) 3
4. Portland (16-1-0) 4
5. North Carolina (19-1-2) 5
6. Florida State (14-2-3) 7
7. Oklahoma State (17-1-3) 9
8. Florida (17-3-1) 6
9. Southern California (16-4-1) 15
10. Missouri (16-4-1) 21
11. Colorado (14-4-4) 17
12. Boston College (13-5-2) 13
13. Texas A&M (15-4-1) 8
14. LSU (14-3-2) 11
15. West Virginia (13-2-6) 12
16. Virginia (13-4-3) 14
17. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (18-2-2) 19
18. Charlotte (17-3-1) 22
19. Penn State (16-7-0) 23
20. BYU (17-5-0) 25
21. Texas (12-3-4) 10
22. Duke (13-4-3) 16
23. San Diego (14-4-2) 18
24. Minnesota (20-3-0) 20
25. Virginia Tech (10-8-4) NR
SOCCER TIMES TOP 25
Rank School Record Pts LW
1 Notre Dame (15) 21-0-0 399 1
2 UCLA (1) 18-0-2 381 2
3 North Carolina 19-1-2 362 3
4 (tie) Stanford 18-1-1 349 4t
4 (tie) Portland 17-1-0 349 4t
6 Florida State 14-2-3 309 6
7 Oklahoma State 17-1-3 292 8
8 Southern California 15-4-1 279 10
9 Florida 17-3-1 273 7
10 Boston College 13-5-2 230 11
11 Missouri 15-5-1 226 18
12 Virginia 13-4-3 209 12
13 Colorado 14-4-4 208 14
14 Texas A&M 15-4-1 207 9
15 Texas 12-3-4 170 13
16 West Virginia 13-2-6 152 15
17 Duke 12-5-3 124 17
18 San Diego 14-4-2 120 16
19 Penn State 16-7-0 106 24
20 Minnesota 20-3-0 101 19
21 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 18-2-2 92 21
22 Brigham Young 17-5-0 86 23
23 LSU 14-3-2 59 20
24 Washington 14-5-1 47 25
25 Wake Forest 12-7-0 42 22
SOCCER BUZZ TOP 30
Team (Record) Last Week
1. Notre Dame (21-0-0) 1
2. UCLA (18-0-2) 2
3. North Carolina (19-1-2) 3
4. Portland (17-1-0) 4
5. Stanford (18-1-1) 5
6. Florida State (14-2-3) 6
7. Oklahoma State (17-1-3) 8
8. Florida (17-3-1) 7
9. Virginia (13-4-3) 13
10. Southern California (15-4-2) 15
11. Boston College (13-5-2) 13
12. Missouri (15-5-1) 23
13. Colorado (14-4-4) 10
14. Texas A&M (15-4-1) 9
15. Duke (12-5-3) 14
16. West Virginia (13-2-6) 12
17. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (18-2-2) 17
18. San Diego (14-4-2) 11
19. Wake Forest (12-7-0) 19
20. Princeton (12-2-2) 21
21. Penn State (16-7-0) 27
22. Washington (14-5-1) 24
23. BYU (17-5-0) 26
24. Minnesota (20-3-0) 18
25. Texas (12-3-4) 20
26. LSU (14-3-2) 25
27. Charlotte (17-3-1) 28
28. Virginia Tech (10-8-4) NR
29. Memphis (15-4-2) NR
30. Harvard (10-3-4) NR