BATON ROUGE — If there was any doubt that the LSU soccer team would compete with one of the more talented rosters in the Southeastern Conference this fall, that was put to rest Thursday as the Tigers led the league with three selections to the preseason All-SEC team announced by the league office.
Senior midfielder Malorie Rutledge, senior forward Rachel Yepez and sophomore goalkeeper Mo Isom are among 11 student-athletes included in the third-annual SEC Soccer Coaches Preseason All-SEC team.
With three selections, LSU has placed more student-athletes on the team than any other program with the Florida Gators and South Carolina Gamecocks having two representatives. Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee each have one representative on this year’s Preseason All-SEC Team.
This marks the third-straight season that the Tigers have had a representative on the team as Chelsea Potts was on the team as a sophomore in 2007 and Rutledge was named to the team as a junior in 2008.
In fact, Rutledge lived up to her billing and became the first LSU Tiger in program history to be named an SEC Offensive Player of the Year a year ago. She also earned her second career First-Team All-SEC honor and was a consensus All-American after being named to All-America teams by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Soccer Buzz and TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Yepez is a strong candidate to earn her first career All-SEC honor this season after being named a Soccer Buzz All-Central Region selection in each of the last two seasons. She was also named an honorable mention All-American by TopDrawerSoccer.com following the 2007 season.
Isom enjoyed an outstanding freshman season with LSU in 2008 as she was named a Soccer Buzz Third-Team Freshman All-American after earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.
The trio will lead an experienced group of Tigers this year that enters the 2009 season as winners of back-to-back SEC Western Division championships after making consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and 2008. LSU will play the Texas Longhorns in an exhibition match on Friday night at 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex before kicking off its regular season on Aug. 21 with a 7 p.m. match against the Memphis Tigers, which will also be held at the LSU Soccer Complex.
2009 SEC Soccer Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team
F, Kayla Grimsley, So., South Carolina
F, Carrie Patterson, Sr., Georgia
F, Rachel Yepez, Sr., LSU
M, Ashlee Elliott, Sr., Florida
M, Katy Frierson, So., Auburn
M, Mick Imgram, Sr., Tennessee
M, Malorie Rutledge, Sr., LSU
D, Lauren Hyde, Sr., Florida
D, Danielle Johnson, Sr., Ole Miss
D, Blakely Mattern, Sr., South Carolina
GK, Mo Isom, So., LSU