BATON ROUGE – Positioning for the SEC and NCAA tournaments will be on the line in Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday night when the LSU Tigers step onto the field for their final regular-season match of 2015 as they are set to kick off against the homestanding Kentucky Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. CT in a match that will broadcast live on the SEC Network+.
Fans will be able to watch the Tigers in action on Thursday night on the SEC Network+ online digital platform at ESPN3.com and using the WatchESPN app available on all smartphones and tablet devices.
Fans unable to watch the game can also follow the action through social media with live updates from the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex by following @LSUSoccer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsusoccer and Instagram at http://instagram.com/lsusoccer. They can also like LSU Soccer’s Facebook page at http://facebook.com/lsusoccer and join in the team’s live in-game chat.
The Tigers (10-4-4, 4-4-2 SEC) have certainly hit their stride in the homestretch of the regular season as they head to Lexington riding a three-game unbeaten streak in SEC play while taking seven points to jump up four spots into seventh place with 14 points on the SEC table during that span. They followed back-to-back 1-0 wins at Arkansas on Oct. 15 and at home to Mississippi State last Friday night with a 1-1 home draw with No. 17-ranked South Carolina on Sunday afternoon to finish their home schedule unbeaten in 2015.
After playing South Carolina to a 1-1 draw in their last outing, LSU finished its home schedule unbeaten for just the second time in 21 seasons in the program’s history with an 8-0-4 mark in 12 matches played at the LSU Soccer Stadium this fall. The Tigers were last unbeaten on their home field for an entire season in 2007 when they finished 5-0-3 in eight home matches.
LSU’s 12-game home unbeaten streak this season is also the third-longest unbeaten run in Baton Rouge in the program’s history and has positioned the team for a return trip to the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
The Wildcats (9-5-4, 3-4-3) are looking to get back in the qualifying positions for the SEC Tournament as they currently sit in a four-way tie for eighth place on 12 points on the SEC table with just one match remaining on the schedule. Kentucky is on the outside of the Top 10 qualifying positions for the SEC tournament and in 11th place overall based on the tiebreaking procedures for postseason play.
The Wildcats are winless in their last six SEC matches while taking three points during that span, including 1-1 draw at Tennessee on Sunday afternoon in their last appearance. After picking up their last win in the SEC in a 2-1 home win over Arkansas on Sept. 27, they followed back-to-back draws with Vanderbilt and Florida with consecutive defeats to Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Auburn in conference action.
The scenario sets up for a lively contest on Thursday night as the Tigers can clinch a return trip to Orange Beach with a win or draw, while the Wildcats need to win to position themselves for SEC qualification.
The sides are also battling for position in terms of an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament as Kentucky is ranked No. 43 and LSU is one spot behind at No. 44 in the NCAA’s latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) that was published on Monday. A win for either side could prove crucial in their selection by the NCAA Selection Committee for an invitation to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
LSU and Kentucky have very similar NCAA Tournament resumes as they prepare for Thursday’s match with the Tigers having wins over No. 12 Duke and No. 25 Minnesota and a draw with No. 30 South Carolina and the Wildcats boasting wins over No. 15 Ole Miss and No. 23 Washington and draws with No. 6 Florida and No. 34 Wisconsin as ranked by the NCAA’s RPI.
The Tigers are currently projected to make a return trip to the Field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection in the latest bracketology projections by HERO Sports and TopDrawerSoccer.com as they look to return to NCAA postseason play for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2011.
After facing one another in Thursday’s regular-season finale, the Tigers and Wildcats hope to be in the 10-team field at the 2015 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament that is set for Nov. 2-8 at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama. Seeds Nos. 7-10 will compete in the first round on Monday, Nov. 2, while teams seeded Nos. 1-6 will earn a bye into the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, Nov. 4.