BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team looks to extend its unbeaten streak to five games on Sunday when it goes on the road to take on in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette in a match scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff at the Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer Facility.
The Tigers (3-1-1) are red hot entering Sunday’s match as they dominated the Oklahoma Sooners by a 4-0 margin at the LSU Soccer Complex on Friday night.
Senior All-SEC midfielder Melissa Clarke was the hero once again as she led the way with two goals and an assist against the Sooners. Clarke is the team’s leading scorer with five goals and 12 points on the year as she seeks her third career all-conference accolade as the premier attacking midfielder in the SEC.
Senior forward Rachel Yepez and freshman midfielder Natalie Ieyoub also figured in the scoring for LSU on Friday night. Yepez scored her second goal of the season and Ieyoub opened her account with her first career goal in an LSU uniform en route to a dominating 4-0 victory.
Sophomore goalkeeper Mo Isom has also shown the form that earned her Freshman All-America honors a year ago as she saved four Sooner shots to post her third shutout of the season.
“I thought we took another big step forward on Friday night, and that is what we’re looking for each time we step on the field,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We’re now only two weeks away from the start of SEC play. We have steadily improved our performance from the start of the season, and we’ll get another opportunity to improve when we kick if off tomorrow. We’re looking forward to a great match.”
The Cajuns (0-5-1) are looking for their first win of the 2009 season when they welcome the Tigers to the Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer Facility as it marks the 6-0 meeting in the history of the two programs.
LSU is a perfect 6-0 all-time against the Cajuns while earning a 2-0 shutout in their last clash on Aug. 31, 2006. In fact, the Tigers have never surrendered a goal to the Cajuns in their six matches while outscoring their opponent 16-0 in those meetings dating back to the 2000 season.
After battling the Ragin’ Cajuns on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers will go back on the road next week with a trip to Durham, N.C., to compete in the Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium. The Tigers will square off against both North Carolina and Duke for the first time in program history as they battle the Tar Heels on Friday at 4 p.m. CT and the Blue Devils on Sept. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
LSU kicks off SEC play at home on Sept. 25 as they welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Baton Rouge for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the LSU Soccer Complex before hosting the Tennessee Lady Vols on Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.