BATON ROUGE — With the 2009 regular season opener just eight days away, the LSU soccer team will continue its preparation on Friday night as it welcomes the 15th-ranked Texas Longhorns to Baton Rouge for a preseason exhibition match at 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.
Fans are invited to come out and support the Tigers as tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youths. The first 1,000 fans entering the stadium will receive a free 2009 LSU Soccer schedule magnet.
LSU Soccer Season Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased for $35 for adults and $15 for youths at the official website for LSU athletics, www.LSUsports.net.
Fans also have the opportunity to purchase the “Ultimate Fall Season Pass,” which allows admission to all 2009 regular season home games for both the LSU soccer and volleyball teams. The “Ultimate Fall Season Pass” is $50 for adults and $25 for youths and is available for all 21 home contests for both teams.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to compete against a nationally-respected program like Texas in our preseason training as we prepare for our season opener next weekend,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “This will be a tremendous challenge for our team and will give us an idea of where we are at this stage of the game. We’ve had a great fall camp to this point, and we expect a great competition tomorrow night.”
The Longhorns are ranked No. 15 in the country in the preseason ranking released by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America on Tuesday. They are coming off a 2008 season in which they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 13-4-4 overall record.
The Tigers enter the 2009 season as the two-time defending SEC Western Division champions with back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008. They have also earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons while finishing the 2008 season with a 14-4-2 overall record.
Not only that, but LSU finished second in the final Southeastern Conference standings a year ago with the best league mark in school history at 7-3-1 and 22 points in conference play.
The Tigers will kick off the 2009 regular season Aug. 21 as they welcome the Conference USA champion Memphis Tigers to the LSU Soccer Complex for a 7 p.m. kickoff. LSU is 10-4 all-time in season openers and has won two consecutive season opening matches in 2007 and 2008.