BATON ROUGE – After wrapping up a 10-game homestand at the LSU Soccer Stadium last weekend, the Tigers are ready to go on the road in Southeastern Conference play for the first time this season with a trip to Starkville, Miss., on Friday night to battle the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the MSU Soccer Field.
Both clubs are looking for their first SEC win of the season as the Tigers (4-4-3, 0-3-1 SEC) and Bulldogs (7-3-1, 0-3-1) are tied with one point on the table after two weeks of league play.
The Tigers have dominated the series with their SEC West rival as they have posted a 14-2-1 mark for the series, including an eight-game unbeaten streak since 2004 and seven-game winning streak since 2005.
After earning its first point in league play with a 1-1 draw with Alabama on Sept. 16, LSU has dropped its last two SEC contests with a 3-1 loss to Auburn and 2-1 double overtime setback to Kentucky as they trip to Starkville on Friday night. The Bulldogs are looking to snap a three-game losing skid in SEC play with defeats to Kentucky (0-3), Vanderbilt (2-4) and Tennessee (0-6) in recent weeks.
Fans can receive live updates and behind-the-scenes coverage of Friday’s SEC West derby by liking LSU Soccer on Facebook and by following @LSUSoccer on Twitter. In addition, fans are invited to follow the live in-game commentary during the match by joining the live stats on LSU’s Facebook page.
The Bulldogs are led in the attack by junior striker Elisabeth Sullivan as she is the team’s best goal scorer as she has already set a career-high with seven goals on the season. Freshman Honeye Heydari has scored five goals and sophomore Amy Hoover has netted four goals as the trio has accounted for 16 of the club’s 21 goals on the campaign as five other scorers have tallied one goal apiece.
Four different Tigers have scored two goals apiece to lead the team’s scoresheet with senior Carlie Banks, sophomore Kaley Blades and freshmen Heather Magee and Fernanda Pina leading the way.
After battling the Bulldogs in an SEC West derby on Friday night, the Tigers will make the trip to Athens, Ga., on Sunday afternoon to take on the Georgia Bulldogs at the UGA Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CDT as ESPNU will televise Sunday’s match live to a nationwide audience.