BATON ROUGE – With conference tournaments drawing to a close around the country on Sunday afternoon, members of the LSU Soccer program now turn their attention to the NCAA postseason as they anticipate their fourth NCAA Tournament berth in five seasons as the field of 64 is set for announcement on Monday at 3:30 p.m. CT with a live webcast at NCAA.com.
The Tigers (13-7-1, 8-3 SEC) are poised for an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament or the first time since 2009, and the fourth time in five seasons as they also competed in 2007 and 2008.
LSU owns an impressive NCAA Tournament resume as the No. 30-ranked team in the country this fall in the NCAA’s latest Ratings Percentage Index released Wednesday afternoon.
In fact, the Tigers have posted one of the more impressive records among teams seeking an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1-1 mark this season against teams ranked in the Top 25 of the latest RPI power ranking. That includes a trio of shutouts of No. 10 Florida (1-0), No. 17 Kentucky (2-0) and No. 22 Tennessee (2-0), as well as an impressive draw with No. 9 Pepperdine (1-1).
In addition, LSU has defeated the likes of No. 37 Georgia and No. 47 Alabama for two addition wins over teams ranked among the Top 50 of the latest RPI to solidify its NCAA Tournament resume.
In their three previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers advanced to the second round two years in 2007 and 2009, while also competing in the first round of the postseason during the 2008 campaign.
“We’re all excited for Monday,” said senior Allysha Chapman, the SEC Co-Defensive Player fo the Year. “We’ve earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament and hope to get a good draw. We know we’re a great team when we play the way we’re capable. We just have to play our best soccer consistently when we get there, and if we do that, I know we can make a good run. We’re excited for the opportunity that we’ve got in front of us. I’ll be playing like every game is my last, that’s for sure.
“I think it was really a blessing in disguise to lose in the first round of the SEC Tournament because we’re all getting much needed rest that will help us prepare to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.”
After posting their second-best SEC record in program history with an 8-3 mark and 24 points on the SEC table, the Tigers will head to the NCAA Tournament as winners of their fourth SEC Western Division championship in five seasons and as runners-up for the SEC Championship for the third time in four years in the wake of another successful campaign in 2011.
In his seven seasons leading one of the sport’s emerging programs, head coach Brian Lee has transformed LSU Soccer into a perennial contender for the SEC Championship as one of the more consistent programs in the conference since his appointment prior to the 2005 season.
With Lee taking over a program that had finished dead last in 12th place among 12 teams on the SEC table in 2003 and 2004 prior to his arrival, the Tigers quickly improved with back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the final conference standings in his first two seasons as the team’s head coach in 2005 and 2006.
That’s when the Tigers emerged as one of the top up-and-coming programs in all of college soccer after a run that saw them earn consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2007, 2008 and 2009 while earning three-straight SEC Western Division titles. The Tigers also continued their ascent in the SEC standings as they improved to fourth place in 2007 before back-to-back second-place finishes in 2008 and 2009.
And after falling back to sixth place in the final league standings with a new generation of Tigers in 2010, LSU proved to be an SEC contender again in 2011 with another second-place finish.
Since LSU’s rise to national prominence in 2007, the Tigers have earned a 62-28-20 overall record with a .654 winning percentage over the past five seasons. That also includes a strong 35-16-12 mark against the SEC with a .651 winning percentage in all matches played in the regular season and SEC Tournament.