BATON ROUGE – Highlighted by a regular-season victory over NCAA runner-up Duke and a run to the SEC Tournament semifinals, the LSU Soccer program marked its return to the national spotlight this fall with a fifth NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Brian Lee while establishing a platform for further success looking ahead to 2016.
The Tigers (13-6-4) earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament for the fifth time in the last nine seasons while making their return for the first time since the 2011 season.
“Our staff is so proud of the players and the dedication they showed over the last year to prepare themselves for the season and get us back onto the national scene,” Lee reflected. “We think 2015 is a great springboard to bigger and better things to come in the future. We have a great group returning that we will look to when filling the leadership void left by the great senior class we had this season.”
The Tigers built momentum for an NCAA Tournament berth with an unbeaten run through their non-conference schedule for just the second time in program history as they posted a sparkling 6-0-2 mark in eight non-conference games this fall. While sending the Duke Blue Devils back home to Durham with a 1-0 defeat on their travels to Baton Rouge on Sept. 13, they also picked up three other non-conference wins against clubs in Power Five conferences at Oregon on Aug. 21 and at home against Minnesota on Aug. 30 and Indiana on Sept. 6.
Duke nearly lifted the national championship trophy at the end of the season while falling 1-0 to Penn State in the National Championship Game to close out the NCAA Women’s College Cup this past Sunday.
The Tigers followed their victory over the Blue Devils with a pair of home wins over Georgia and Marquette to earn a Top 25 national ranking for the first time during the 2015 season as they cracked the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 as the No. 24-ranked team nationally during the week of Sept. 21-27. LSU ended the season ranked No. 40 in the NCAA’s final Ratings Percentage Index released last Sunday.
The Tigers wrapped up the 2015 season with a winning 6-5-1 mark in 12 matches played against the RPI Top 60, including those wins against RPI No. 6 Duke and No. 35 Minnesota during the non-conference season, and two wins each against No. 58 Kentucky and No. 60 Missouri in SEC play late in the regular season and also in the opening rounds at the SEC Tournament.
After remaining unbeaten through the non-conference season, the Tigers then solidified their NCAA Tournament credentials in Southeastern Conference play as they ended the season with a brilliant run of five wins, one draw and just one defeat in their final seven matches ahead of NCAA Tournament Selection Monday back on Nov. 9.
Despite playing without injured All-SEC striker Summer Clarke in the final three weeks of the regular season, the Tigers claimed 10 of the 12 points on offer from their final four SEC matches to finish at 5-4-2 with a total of 17 points in league play to secure the No. 7 seed in the 2015 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament.
With Clarke back in the lineup, the Tigers kicked off postseason play with two 2-1 wins over No. 10 seed Kentucky in the first round and SEC runner-up and No. 2 seed Missouri in the quarterfinal round while making an appearance in the SEC Tournament semifinals for the fifth time in the last nine seasons. That’s where they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to two-time defending SEC Tournament champion Texas A&M.
LSU’s five SEC Tournament semifinal appearances in the last nine seasons trail only Florida (9) and South Carolina (6) during that time, while the Tigers have now advanced to the semifinals six times in team history.
The Tigers were led into the SEC Tournament semifinals by their two senior team captains as midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco and defender Alex Arlitt were each named to the SEC’s All-Tournament Team following the team’s performance in Orange Beach. Gomez-Junco was also named a Second-Team All-South Region selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America after the season.
Arlitt and Gomez-Junco were part of a nine-member senior class that set the pace for the team during the 2015 season as Gracie Campbell, Lexi Gibbs, Heather Magee, Mariel McLaughlin, Emma Meckfessel, Fernanda Pina and Catalina Rubiano also made their final appearance for the Tigers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at South Alabama on Nov. 14.
During an era in which it is common for a class of recruits that first arrives on campus as freshmen to be virtually cut in half by its senior season by way of transfers and other circumstances, the 86 percent retention rate of LSU’s 2015 senior class – an SEC best this season – is a testament to their commitment to the program on and off the field throughout their time in Baton Rouge.
“We owe a lot to this class of seniors just in the way they have led this team both on and off the field,” Lee said of LSU’s Class of 2015. “For the success you have in any season, you can really point to the leadership you have in the team as a big reason why you can go on and achieve great things. They’ve helped us do that this year, and I have no doubt that they will go on and achieve great things in life after graduation.”
LSU’s senior class and the rest of the 2015 squad made history this season while posting the best home record in the 21 seasons in the program’s history as the Tigers remained unbeaten with an 8-0-4 record in their 12 games played at the LSU Soccer Stadium. They were unbeaten at home in a season for just the second time all-time, following their 5-0-3 record in eight home matches played back in 2007.
While the Tigers must replace their nine seniors from this year’s team to kick on in 2016, they have a strong platform from which to build as they will return arguably the NCAA’s most potent front line as Clarke is set for a return along with fellow All-SEC striker Jorian Baucom after firing the team into postseason play this season.
Baucom ranked second in the SEC scoring charts and tied as the NCAA’s No. 15-ranked goal scorer during her sophomore season as she led the Tigers with a career-high 15 goals and 32 points on the campaign. The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team striker earned First-Team All-SEC and NSCAA First-Team All-South Region honors as one of the nation’s top offensive talents this fall.
Baucom was even voted as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week twice on Sept. 14 and Oct. 30, while Gomez-Junco (Sept. 21) and Rubiano (Oct. 19) were named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week this season.
Clarke was also recognized for her performance as one of the most feared offensive threats in college soccer in 2015 as she was awarded her second career Second-Team All-SEC honor and was also selected an NSCAA Second-Team All-South Region performer after scoring seven goals and 19 points this season. She was first honored as both an All-SEC and all-region performer following her freshman season in 2013.
Their return to the lineup should give the Tigers a potent attack going forward in 2016 as the team will return 82.5 percent of its goal-scoring output with players scoring 33 of the team’s 40 goals suiting up again next fall in the purple and gold. LSU will also have a strong foundation on which to build its defense in 2016 while returning three of its starting back four, including former All-SEC left back Megan Lee for her senior season, central defender Jordane Carvery for her junior season and SEC All-Freshman Team selection Alex Thomas for her sophomore season.
Offseason preparations are already underway as the Tigers look ahead to the start of the 2016 season as they are scheduled to open the season against Atlantic Coast Conference power Virginia Tech on Aug. 19 during a season-opening tournament hosted by the College of Charleston. The Hokies ended the season as the No. 13-ranked team nationally in the NCAA’s RPI while earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.