BATON ROUGE – After wrapping up its first week of training camp Thursday with a 7 p.m. practice session at the LSU Soccer Complex, members of the LSU soccer team loaded the bus Friday morning for a trip to Austin, Texas, where they will square off against the Texas Longhorns in a preseason exhibition match on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
This marks the second year in a row that LSU and Texas will face one another in the preseason as the two sides met in Baton Rouge last August with the Tigers coming away with a 2-1 victory.
That win helped springboard the Tigers to a record-setting 2009 season in which they tied a school record for wins with a 15-4-5 overall record and set a new school record with an 8-2-1 mark with 25 points in Southeastern Conference play. The team also captured its third-straight SEC Western Division crown and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row.
Fans who are unable to attend the match can watch the action live as the University of Texas will provide a free webcast on its official athletics website at www.TexasSports.tv.
“Texas is traditionally one of the top programs in the country and will be quality opposition for us here in the preseason,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “This is a tremendous challenge for our young team, and we’ll get a good idea of what we’re good at, what we’re not so good at and where we are at this point.
“If we’re going to have an exhibition, we want it to be one that tests us as a team. Especially this year, we want it to expose our young team to what college soccer is all about. It’s important that we come out of this game knowing our strengths and weaknesses and what we need to work on going into the opener.”
Texas is coming off a 2009 season in which it posted a 9-9-3 overall record while advancing to the Big 12 Tournament semifinal during the postseason. The Longhorns have received their share of 2010 preseason recognition as sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Gaul was named to the 45-member preseason Watch List for the Hermann Trophy, while senior defender Erica Campanelli earned a preseason All-Big 12 selection.
After battling the Longhorns on Saturday night, the Tigers will return to the LSU Soccer Complex a week from now as they open up the regular season against the South Alabama Jaguars on Aug. 22 at 1 p.m. The Tigers will play nine home matches as part of their 19-game regular season schedule.
LSU Soccer Season Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased for $35 for adults and $15 for youths at www.LSUtix.net. Reserve season tickets in the midfield bleacher backs can also be purchased for $50.