BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers look to bounce back straightaway from their 3-1 Southeastern Conference defeat at No. 8-ranked South Carolina on Thursday night when they travel to Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday to face surging Vanderbilt at the VU Soccer Complex with kickoff set for 1 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+.
The match will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ beginning at 1 p.m. CT as fans can watch the Tigers (6-5, 1-2 SEC) and Commodores (6-4, 2-1) online at ESPN3.com and using the WatchESPN app.
Fans can also follow all the action from each match during the 2016 season by following @LSUSoccer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsusoccer and Instagram at http://instagram.com/lsusoccer and by liking LSU Soccer on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsusoccer. Fans are also invited to join in the team’s live in-game chat on Facebook throughout Sunday’s match.
Vanderbilt is fresh off its first marquee win of the 2016 season on Thursday night after knocking off 14th-ranked Texas A&M by a comfortable 2-0 margin on their home field in Nashville to move to 2-1 in league play this season. The Commodores enter Sunday’s contest as winners of two-straight in SEC play after also scoring a 2-1 extra-time win at Mississippi State last Sunday afternoon.
The hosts feature a diverse attack with seven different goal scorers accounting for their 17 goals on the season with standout defender Sasha Gray leading the way with a team-best four goals on the campaign.
While posting a .447 winning percentage with a 7-9-3 record in their 19 matches against Vanderbilt all-time, the Tigers have enjoyed tremendous success against the Commodores during the Brian Lee era while posting a .636 winning percentage with a 6-3-2 mark in their 11 previous meetings dating back to Lee’s appointment in 2005.
LSU arrives at the VU Soccer Complex riding a three-match unbeaten streak in the series after the sides played to a scoreless draw in their last match in Baton Rouge on Oct. 2 of last season. The Tigers also took home a 2-1 extra-time win from their last trip to Nashville on Sept. 21, 2013, after defending their home turf with a 1-0 win in extra time on Oct. 7, 2012, in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers would level their record in matches played in Nashville with a win Sunday afternoon as they arrive with a 4-5 mark in nine previous matches at the VU Soccer Complex since 1995. They are 3-2 in five matches played at Vanderbilt under Lee’s tenure as head coach.
After traveling to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers will return home to play host to the No. 9-ranked Florida Gators on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium. They will then host Tennessee on Thursday, Oct. 6, with kickoff also set for 7 p.m. before traveling to Athens, Georgia, to square off against the Bulldogs on Sunday, Oct. 9, in a match set to kick off at 1 p.m.