BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer team will look to snap a four-game slide and pick up its first win in Southeastern Conference play on Sunday afternoon when the Tigers make their SEC Network television debut while playing host to the streaking Arkansas Razorbacks with kickoff set for 3 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium in Baton Rouge.
Fans can “Geaux Free!” to each of LSU’s five remaining home matches during the 2014 regular season as admission is free at the LSU Soccer Stadium, compliments of The Advocate.
Fans can watch the Tigers in action on the SEC Network as they will make their live national television debut during the 2014 season on Sunday afternoon. The match will also be available for viewing online with the SEC Digital Network coverage of the match at www.SECsports.com/watch or by using the Watch ESPN app available on all smartphones and tablets.
Fans who are unable to attend the match are invited to follow the action through social media as they can receive live updates from the ground by following @LSUSoccer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsusoccer and by liking LSU Soccer’s official Facebook page at http://facebook.com/lsusoccer. They are also invited to join in the team’s live in-game chat on Facebook during each match during the 2014 season.
Arkansas (5-2-3, 1-0-1 SEC) enters Sunday’s match riding a four-game unbeaten streak that includes a 2-1 extra time win over Kentucky in its SEC opener on Sept. 19 and a 1-1 draw at Ole Miss on Friday night.
The Razorbacks are certainly a program on the rise under the direction of third-year head coach Colby Hale after posting a 15-8-1 overall record in his second season in charge last season en route to a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament. They also returned to the SEC Tournament for the first time since the 2000 season.
Leading the Arkansas attack once again is junior striker Ashleigh Ellenwood, who is once again the team’s leading scorer this fall after earning Second-Team All-SEC honors as one of the top strikers in the league last fall. Ellenwood has scored a team-leading four goals along with an impressive seven assists for 15 points to top the Razorback scoring charts in each scoring category.
Sophomore defender Alexandra Fischer has matched Ellenwood’s effort with a team-leading four goals of her own this season, while sophomore midfielder Claire Kelley has scored three goals on the campaign.
The Tigers have enjoyed much success in their series with the Razorbacks as they own an impressive 13-5-1 record all-time against their former SEC West rivals. That includes a 10-game winning streak going back to the 2004 season and a seven-game unbeaten streak in matches played at the LSU Soccer Stadium in Baton Rouge since the 1998 season with a 6-0-1 mark during that span.
The Tigers ran out as 5-3 winners in their last meeting at Razorback Field in Fayetteville on Oct. 4 of last season when All-SEC striker Summer Clarke scored her first career hat trick with three goals in the win, including a game-winner late in the second half. All-SEC midfielder Emma Fletcher assisted each of Clarke’s three goals in the match to tie an LSU single-game record for assists in one of the thrilling matches of 2013.
Clarke followed that performance by scoring both goals in LSU’s 2-1 extra-time win at Alabama on Oct. 6, 2013, while being named the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Week for her performance.
After playing host to the Razorbacks on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers will head back on the road next weekend as they travel to Starkville, Mississippi, to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT at the MSU Soccer Complex before making the trip to Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday, Oct. 5, to battle the No. 12-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks with kickoff set for Noon CT at Stone Stadium.