BATON ROUGE – Members of the LSU Soccer program will look to wrap up their 2014 season on a high note on Thursday night when they welcome the red-hot Auburn Tigers to Baton Rouge for a match that is set to kick off at 7:05 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The match will be featured online on the SEC Network+ with coverage beginning at 7 p.m.
Fans can “Geaux Free!” to LSU’s season-finale as the Tigers are set to wrap up the campaign Thursday night as admission is free at the LSU Soccer Stadium, compliments of The Advocate.
Fans can watch LSU and Auburn in action on the SEC Network+ on Thursday with live streaming video available online at http://espn3.com/ 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.
The Tigers (5-12-2, 1-8-1 SEC) will be looking to snap a six-game losing skid in Southeastern Conference play when they face streaking Auburn (10-5-3, 4-3-3) as the visitors fight for SEC Tournament seeding. Auburn will kick off Thursday on 15 points in a tie for seventh place on the SEC table, but currently holding down the No. 9 seed in the 10-team SEC Tournament to be held next week in Orange Beach, Alabama.
Having already clinched its SEC Tournament berth, Auburn could be seeded anywhere from No. 4 to No. 10 in the tournament, pending results from Baton Rouge and around the rest of the league on Thursday night.
LSU is also looking to snap a four-game skid in its series with Auburn when they meet in Baton Rouge while dropping each of their last four meetings dating back to the 2011 regular season. Auburn emerged as winners in extra time in their last meeting on the soccer pitch while advancing with a 1-0 win over LSU on Nov. 4 of last season in the first round of the 2013 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
It has certainly been a series of streaks in recent years as Auburn’s current four-game winning run has come on the back of a four-game winning streak for LSU between the 2008 regular season and the semifinals from the 2010 SEC Tournament. Auburn leads the all-time series by a 14-8-1 margin in 23 previous meetings dating back to LSU’s inaugural season of 1995.
Auburn are winners of three-straight matches and are unbeaten in six of their last seven matches in SEC play while making the trip to Baton Rouge on Thursday night. While winning each of its last three matches during recent weeks, Karen Hoppa’s side followed a 2-1 extra-time win at Arkansas on Oct. 19 with a 2-0 shutout of Mississippi State on Oct. 23 and a 1-0 extra-time win over Alabama on Sunday on its home field.
Auburn’s junior defender Kala Faulkner was rewarded for her performance in leading the team to a pair of shutout victories last weekend with her selection as the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
The visitors certainly spread the wealth around while featuring as diverse an attack as there is in the SEC during the 2014 season with seven players entering Thursday’s fixture with either three or four goals to lead the attack. Sisters Brooke (midfielder) and Casie (striker) Ramsier are Auburn’s leading scorers this season with four goals apiece, while strikers Tori Ball, Logan Beal and Kristen Dodson; and midfielders Ellie Leek and Courtney Schell follow with three goals apiece during the regular season.
In keeping with the Halloween theme, Thursday will be “Kick or Treat” at the LSU Soccer Stadium as fans are invited to dress in their best Halloween costumes while helping to decorate pumpkins before kickoff. They’ll be judged at halftime to see which fans can carve the best pumpkins. Candy will also be passed out to those fans attending the match on Thursday night.