BATON ROUGE — LSU midfielder Taryne Boudreau recently wrapped up her experience with the Under-20 Canadian National Team at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and is ready to rejoin the Tigers when the team continues its off-season training program in the spring.
The South American country of Chile is playing host to the 16-team tournament that is scheduled to conclude with the final match at the Estadio Municipal de la Florida in Santiago on Sunday.
Canada was eliminated from group play with a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Germany on Nov. 27 with the European side scoring the game-winning goal in the 90th minute of play. The Canadians would have finished runner-up in Group C with a win over Germany to advance to the single-elimination, eight-team tournament and compete for the World Cup title.
Despite her team’s early exit, Boudreau made the most of her second career appearance in the U-20 Women’s World Cup after cracking Canada’s starting lineup in its opening match against Japan back on Nov. 20. She also represented her native Canada at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Moscow, Russia, making two starts in group play.
“This is always a fun experience to represent my country on an international stage like the World Cup. I just wish we could have taken it a little farther this year,” Boudreau said. “But I’m ready to get back to Baton Rouge and start training with our team again. I’m excited about next season.”
Boudreau received a redshirt while training with the U-20 Canadian National Team this fall, and is set to compete as a third-year sophomore during the 2009 season.
In her absence, the Tigers successfully defended their SEC Western Division crown and received an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season. The Tigers finished the 2008 season with a 14-4-2 overall record and a school record 7-3-1 mark and 22 points in the SEC to earn their highest finish in the overall league standings at No. 2.
“This has been another great opportunity for Taryne to proudly represent her country and further her development as one of the top players in the country,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We’re very excited to have her back training in the spring. We expect this to be without a doubt our most competitive off-season as we return a very talented and experienced team next fall.”