ORANGE BEACH – Following a pair of 2-1 wins over Kentucky in the first round and Missouri in the quarterfinals, No. 7-seeded LSU will make its fifth appearance all-time in the semifinal round at the SEC Tournament when it lines up against No. 6-seeded Texas A&M on Friday night in a match that is set to kick off at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
While also available on the SEC Network, the match will also feature on the network’s online digital platform at ESPN3.com and through the WatchESPN app available on all smartphones and tablet devices.
Fans unable to view the match can follow the action on social media with live updates from the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama, 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 (13-4-4) are riding an impressive six-game unbeaten streak going into Friday’s semifinal against the defending SEC Tournament champion Aggies (14-5-1) as they are now 5-0-1 dating back to a 1-0 road win at Arkansas back on Oct. 15. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams as they did not face one another in SEC play during the regular season.
Wednesday’s 2-1 win over No. 2-seeded Missouri earned the Tigers a spot in the SEC Tournament semifinals for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2010 when it capped a run of four-straight years of qualifying for the semifinal round. The program is 1-2-2 in its five previous appearances in the SEC semifinals.
A spot in the SEC Tournament Championship Game will be on the line when the Tigers and Aggies meet for the first time this season on Friday night as either team will face the winner of the first semifinal match of the day between No. 1 seed Florida and No. 4 seed Auburn that is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. CT. The SEC Network will air live coverage of both semifinal matches at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
LSU’s lone appearance in the SEC Tournament Championship Game came on Nov. 8, 2009, when it dropped an 8-7 decision on penalty kicks after playing South Carolina to a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time.
The Tigers have squared off against the Aggies twice before in postseason play with their inaugural meeting coming in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament in which Texas A&M, then a member of the Big XII Conference, won 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw. Texas A&M also scored a 4-0 win in College Station in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers are looking for their first win in the series as the Aggies own a 4-0-1 advantage in their five previous meetings, including a perfect 3-0 mark in each of their regular-season matches in SEC play.
Freshmen forwards Ally Watt and Emily Bates scored the goals that sent Texas A&M into the semifinals with a 2-0 shutout of Ole Miss on Wednesday afternoon. Second-Team All-SEC forward Haley Pounds has proven to be the top scoring threat for the Aggies throughout the season with a team-leading 11 goals on the year, while Watt and Bates join All-SEC midfielder Mikaela Harvey with six goals apiece during the 2015 season.
LSU’s freshman class has been the story of the SEC Tournament thus far as rookie forward Gabriela Maldonado and SEC All-Freshman Team defender Alex Thomas have accounted for three of the squad’s four goals in two matches played at the Orange Beach Sportsplex this week in identical 2-1 victories over Kentucky and Missouri.
Maldonado has actually scored the game-winning goal in each of the team’s two wins as she has found the back of the net in the 54th minute against Kentucky and 18th minute against Missouri to help guide the Tigers back to the semifinal for the first time since 2010. Maldonado has now scored four goals on the season to rank fourth on the team’s goal scoring chart this fall.