BATON ROUGE – The No. 6-seeded LSU soccer team will travel to the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala., on Wednesday afternoon where it will kick off the postseason with a match against No. 3-seeded Tennessee at 2:30 p.m. in the first round of the 2010 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament.
The Tigers (7-8-4, 4-3-3 SEC) have qualified to compete in the SEC Tournament for the fourth year in a row and take on the Lady Volunteers (10-8-1, 7-3-1) in the second match of the opening round. The sides played to a 1-1 draw in Knoxville on the opening weekend of SEC play this fall back on Sept. 26.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will advance to the SEC Tournament semifinal on Friday at 5 p.m. CT against either the No. 2-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks or the No. 7-seeded Kentucky Wildcats.
LSU has advanced to the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament in each of the last three seasons with an appearance in the SEC Tournament final for the first time in program history a year ago. While playing as the No. 2 seed, the Tigers played No. 4 seed South Carolina to a 1-1 draw in regulation before falling by a remarkable 8-7 margin in penalty kicks to finish as the SEC Tournament runner-up in 2009.
LSU boasts an impressive 3-1-3 record in SEC Tournament play since 2007 and enters Wednesday’s first round with a five-game unbeaten streak in the event since 2008.
The Tigers will also step on the pitch with a three-game unbeaten streak against the Lady Volunteers with a 5-1 win in Baton Rouge during the 2009 regular season and a 1-1 draw in the SEC semifinal in the 2008 postseason as Tennessee advanced to the SEC Tournament final with a 4-2 decision in penalty kicks.
“We have a great challenge ahead of us tomorrow afternoon because Tennessee is the most improved club in the SEC over the course of the conference season this year,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “They’ve always been very dangerous in the attack, but they’re a much improved team defensively from where they were earlier this season. They’re also a team that has enjoyed great success in this tournament.”
Tennessee opens postseason play with a three-game winning streak, including a 2-1 victory at home in the regular season finale against Georgia on Friday night. The Lady Volunteers held their ground as the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament, while the Bulldogs locked up the No. 4 seed in the event.
Also qualifying for the 2010 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament is No. 1 seed and SEC champion Florida, No. 2 seed South Carolina, No. 5 seed Auburn, No. 7 seed Kentucky and No. 8 seed Vanderbilt.
Other first-round matches during Wednesday’s competition include South Carolina and Kentucky at noon CT, Florida and Vanderbilt at 5 p.m. and Georgia and Auburn at 7:30 p.m. This year’s SEC Tournament champion will be crowned following Sunday’s final scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.