BATON ROUGE – As members of the LSU soccer program return to campus for the spring semester and continue in their offseason strength and conditioning program, the Tigers are set to face a challenging spring exhibition schedule that is sure to prepare them for another championship run in 2011.
LSU head coach Brian Lee announced a slate of five exhibition matches against elite competition that will help his young team continue to mature as one of the premier teams in the SEC again next fall.
With extensive renovations to the LSU Soccer Complex expected to begin in the coming weeks, LSU will go on the road for each of its spring exhibition matches this season.
“Our young team has a great opportunity this spring to compete with some of the premier programs in the country as we prepare for the 2011 season next fall,” Lee said. “It’ll be especially important for the growth and maturity of our team. We wanted to put together a slate of games this spring season to get our players back in a competitive environment and challenge us to improve as a team.
“We saw some tremendous performances from our players, and particularly our freshmen, toward the end of the fall season. We expect to continue to build on that momentum as we enter the spring season.”
The Tigers are set to battle the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in their spring opener on Feb. 19 as the sides are slated for a 9 a.m. CT kickoff as part of the President’s Day Invitational hosted by the Challenge Soccer Club in Houston, Texas. This marks the second time in three years that LSU will face Oklahoma State for the spring season as the Tigers earned a 3-0 victory over the Cowgirls in 2009.
Oklahoma State is coming off an impressive 2010 campaign in which it advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before finishing the season ranked as high as No. 5 in the national polls with a 20-4-2 overall record. The Cowgirls finished the season in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings.
After facing Oklahoma State on Feb. 19, the Tigers will then battle SMU in Dallas, Texas, on Feb. 26 and Nicholls State in New Orleans on April 3 at noon as part of the Big Easy Invitational at Lafreniere Park.
The Tigers will battle their second Big 12 opponent of the spring season on March 26 when they return to Houston to take on the Texas Longhorns as part of the Albion College Cup. The Longhorns are also NCAA Tournament veterans in 2010 following their appearance in the first round.
LSU will then wrap up the spring season on April 9 with a familiar trip to Orange Beach, Ala., where they will square off against national power Florida State in a match with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. Like Oklahoma State, the Seminoles also advanced to the Elite Eight of the postseason and finished the season ranked as high as No. 7 nationally with a 16-6-1 overall record.
LSU and Florida State will meet at the site of the 2011 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament. The Tigers are one of only two teams in the SEC to advance to the tournament semifinal in each of the last four years.
The 2011 spring season will also feature an exciting LSU Soccer Alumni Match on March 18 at 7 p.m., as this year’s squad competes against a team composed of former members of the LSU soccer program at the new indoor facility at the Premier Soccer Center in nearby St. Gabriel, La.