BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team finished the 2008 season with the top defensive unit in the SEC and will look to be even stronger on the back line in 2009 as sophomore transfer Allysha Chapman has elected to join the program for the start of the spring season.
Chapman comes to LSU following a stint at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she was a unanimous selection to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in 2007.
A native of Courtice, Ontario, Chapman earned 13 starts in 18 appearances for the Blazers during her true freshman season. She will be a sophomore in eligibility after receiving a redshirt while competing with the Under-20 Canadian National Team in 2008.
“I’m very excited to join the team here at LSU because it’s a program that’s definitely going in the right direction,” Chapman said. “I have been given a great opportunity to play here, and we’re all looking forward to a great season next fall. It looks like we’ll have another strong team to play with, and hopefully I will be able to bring something to the team.
“I really think we have a chance to compete for an SEC championship. LSU has consistently been in the Top 25 the last couple of years and I don’t think that will change.”
Chapman is no stranger to international competition as a member of the U-20 Canadian National Team, and she represented her country at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile this past November. She cracked Canada’s starting lineup in each of the club’s three matches in group play, while she has made 15 international appearances with the team.
For her performance at the U-20 Women’s World Cup, Chapman was one of six finalists for this year’s Canadian Women’s U-20 Player of the Year award. In fact, the left back finished second in the voting by a panel of Canadian media and coaches as announced in December.
“We are excited to add a world-class defender to our veteran team heading into the 2009 season,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We will enter the fall with our deepest and most talented team in program history, and we’re looking forward to working hard with the goal of competing for the SEC title in the fall. There is no doubt that Allysha will play a major role in our future success.”
The Tigers are fresh off of a 2008 season which saw them capture their second-straight SEC West championship and earn their highest SEC finish at No. 2 in the final standings.
LSU also earned their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament after finishing the season at 14-4-2 with a school record 7-3-1 mark and 22 points in Southeastern Conference play. LSU has shown dramatic improvement in its performance in four seasons under Lee, finishing No. 8 in the league standings in 2005 before finishing No. 4 in 2007 and No. 2 in 2008.
Chapman will join the Tigers for the spring exhibition season that kicks off on Feb. 28 with a trip to Austin, Texas, to take on the defending Big 12 Champion Oklahoma State Cowgirls.