BATON ROUGE – The LSU Soccer team swept Ole Miss and Lamar with two clean sheets in its last appearance in Baton Rouge two weeks ago, and the Tigers look to return to the win column Friday night when they welcome the 15th-ranked Florida Gators to the LSU Soccer Stadium for a match that is set to kick off at 7 p.m. CT.
Not only does Friday’s match feature Girl Scout Night at the LSU Soccer Stadium, but the first 500 fans receive a free LSU Soccer flag, courtesy of the LSU Marketing & Promotions Department.
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 even invited to join in the team’s live in-game chat on Facebook throughout Friday’s contest.
ALL [Skill] | We want YOU at Friday’s 7 p.m. CT kickoff vs. 15th-ranked Florida. Admission is FREE to the #LSU Soccer Stadium! #AllForLSU pic.twitter.com/LWjIysQ0Tx
— LSU Soccer (@LSUSoccer) September 28, 2016
The Tigers (6-6, 1-3 SEC) hope to snap a two-game losing streak after falling on the road at No. 8-ranked South Carolina and Vanderbilt on their travels in SEC play last weekend. They also look to end a four-match losing skid in the series after picking up their first and only win against the Gators in their history with a 1-0 road win at then No. 11-ranked Florida on Oct. 23, 2011.
The Gators (7-3, 2-2) are ranked as high as No. 15 nationally in the latest TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s Division I Top 25 poll released Tuesday. Florida also checks in at No. 18 nationally in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 and No. 20 nationally in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 also released earlier this week.
While the Tigers face their fourth nationally-ranked opponent this season, Friday’s match is the first on their home field in Baton Rouge in what has been one of the strongest schedules in the country in 2016.
A victory on Friday night would move the Tigers level on points with Florida on the SEC table through five matches as the Gators arrive in Baton Rouge with a split of their previous four league fixtures. That includes a 3-0 defeat to Auburn on Sept. 22 and a 2-0 shutout of Tennessee last Sunday in their last action at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville a week ago.
Senior All-American Savannah Jordan is leading the line once again for the defending SEC Champions as she has bagged a team-leading eight goals with seven assists for 23 points in her final season.
The Gators feature a diverse attack with 11 different goal scorers accounting for the team’s 26 goals through 10 matches this season. Sophomore Melanie Monteagudo follows Jordan as the team’s second-leading goal scorer with four goals on the season, while senior Meggie Dougherty Howard and sophomore Mayra Pelayo have each scored three times to this point of the 2016 season.
After playing host to 15th-ranked Florida on Friday on their only match day this weekend, the Tigers will return to action next Thursday when they welcome the visiting Tennessee Volunteers to Baton Rouge for a home match that is set to kick off at 7 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The match against Tennessee will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.