BATON ROUGE – After seeing its seven-game unbeaten streak snapped with a 1-0 home defeat to No. 24 Ole Miss on Friday night, the 25th-ranked LSU Soccer team looks to get back on the winning track on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Gainesville to take on eighth-ranked Florida with kickoff set for noon CT at James G. Pressly Stadium.
Sunday’s match is scheduled for live regionally-televised broadcast on local Fox Sports Net affiliates. ESPN3.com will also stream the match live at http://es.pn/WSOC-LSUvsUF.
Not only can fans watch the Tigers in action on Sunday afternoon, but LSU’s supporters can also receive live updates and behind-the-scenes coverage of the team’s match at Florida by liking LSU Soccer on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsusoccer and by following @LSUSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
The Tigers (9-4-2, 5-1-1 SEC) have returned to the national rankings at No. 25 in the latest College Soccer Madness Top 25, while the Gators (11-3-1, 5-2) are a consensus Top 20 team this week with a national ranking as high as No. 8 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Continental Tire Top 25 poll release Tuesday. Florida is also No. 10 in the Soccer Times Top 25 and No. 17 in the Soccer America Top 25.
LSU’s last trip to Gainesville two years ago was certainly historic as the Tigers took home their first victory in the series with a 1-0 shutout of 13th-ranked Florida on Oct. 23, 2011. Taryne Boudreau scored the only goal for the Tigers in an All-SEC season as LSU would go on to finish in second place in the final SEC standings for the third time in four seasons.
Florida returned the favor a year ago by taking home a 2-0 victory in the last meeting between the two teams on the soccer pitch at the LSU Soccer Stadium in Baton Rouge on Oct. 5 of last season.
Despite losing a decorated senior class from its SEC Championship team a year ago, Florida is certainly in the running to defend its crown with a potent offense and the SEC’s top defense in league play this season. It’s a team that has allowed a league-low four goals in seven conference matches, while also scoring 15 goals in league play and 33 goals in all games in 2013.
Freshman striker Savannah Jordan has been the catalyst for the Gators in the attack as one of the SEC’s offensive stars this season, scoring a team-leading 13 goals and 27 points to this point in her rookie season. Junior midfielder Havana Solaun and freshman midfielder Pamela Begic follow with four goals apiece to rank second on the team.
After battling the Gators in Gainesville on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers will return to Baton Rouge next weekend for their final home match of the 2013 season when they welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to town Friday for a match that is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium. They will follow with a trip to Lexington, Ky., to face 14th-ranked Kentucky on Sunday, Oct. 27, at noon CT.