BATON ROUGE – The LSU soccer team will put a 14-game home unbeaten streak and a three-game unbeaten streak in Southeastern Conference play on the line on Friday when it welcomes Kentucky to the LSU Soccer Complex for an interdivisional match that is set to kick off at 7 p.m. CT.
The Tigers (4-5-3, 1-1-2 SEC) are riding an impressive 14-game unbeaten streak in matches played at the LSU Soccer Complex that dates back to a 3-0 win over Southern Miss on Aug. 28, 2009.
LSU is also unbeaten in its last three SEC contests this fall, which includes a 1-1 draw on the road against Tennessee on Sept. 26, a scoreless draw at home against Alabama on Oct. 1 and a thrilling 2-1 win versus Auburn on Sunday afternoon for the team’s fourth-straight win in the series.
The Wildcats (7-4-1, 1-2-1 SEC) enter Friday’s match with some momentum of their own after securing a total of four points in SEC play on the road last weekend following a 1-1 draw at Georgia and a 1-0 win at Tennessee. Kentucky also defeated the 10th-ranked Tigers by a 1-0 margin in the last meeting between the two teams at the UK Soccer Complex in Lexington a season ago.
Fans who are unable to attend Friday’s match at the LSU Soccer Complex can listen to a live radio stream of the game by going online to www.totalsportsradio.com.
“Kentucky is probably the most improved team in the SEC this year, and one of the more improved teams in the country with how they’ve played to this point,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We’re excited for the opportunity to compete against a quality opponent like Kentucky in our home environment. It is going to be a fun atmosphere for our players with the fan support we’ve come to enjoy on Friday nights.”
Kentucky boasts the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week in freshman forward Caitlin Landis, who is the team’s second-leading scorer this season with four goals and one assist for nine points on the season through 12 matches. Junior Kelsey Hunyadi is the team’s leading scorer with six goals and 12 points.
LSU will counter with the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week as goalkeeper Megan Kinneman has been outstanding in the nets while leading the Tigers during their current three-game SEC unbeaten streak.
Kinneman earned her first SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Monday after allowing only one goal for 200 minutes of action this past weekend as LSU earned four points in SEC play. Auburn’s lone goal came by way of a penalty kick late in the second half. Of her three goals allowed this season, two have come by penalty kicks for an impressive 0.55 goals against average in 490 minutes of action.
Junior midfielder Natalie Martineau scored the game-winning goal in LSU’s dramatic 2-1 win against the Auburn Tigers on Sunday as she now leads the team with four goals scored in 2010.
After battling the Wildcats on Friday night, the Tigers will return to the pitch on Sunday afternoon as they welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores to the LSU Soccer Complex for a match that is scheduled to kick at 1:07 p.m. CT with a live television broadcast on Cox Sports Television.