BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs will battle for postseason positioning Friday night with three valuable points on the line in the race for SEC Tournament qualification as they are slated to kick off at 7 p.m. CT at the MSU Soccer Field in what will be LSU’s final road match during the 2016 regular season.
The match will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ beginning at 7 p.m. CT as fans can watch the Tigers (6-9, 1-6 SEC) and Bulldogs (6-8, 1-6) 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 Friday’s match.
Both teams are seeking their second SEC win of the season and a crucial three points in the race for SEC Tournament qualification with just four regular-season matches remaining on their schedules. The Tigers hope to snap a five-game losing streak in SEC play, while the Bulldogs have dropped their last two in league play following their first conference win with a 1-0 home win over Alabama on Sept. 30.
It’s been more than 15 years since Mississippi State last scored a victory in the series as LSU arrives in Starkville riding an 11-game winning streak since 2005 and a 14-game unbeaten streak with a 13-0-1 mark going back to the 2002 season. The Bulldogs last defeated the Tigers by a 2-0 margin in Baton Rouge on Oct. 7, 2001.
LSU boasts an 18-2-1 overall record in the 21 previous meetings between the two teams, which includes an unbeaten 9-0-1 mark in their 10 matches played on the road at the MSU Soccer Field in Starkville.
Two-time All-SEC striker Summer Clarke has scored twice in her three career appearances against Mississippi State as she scored LSU’s first in a 3-2 comeback win at home in extra time as a freshman on Sept. 29, 2013, before netting the winner in a 2-0 shutout in Starkville on Oct. 3, 2014. Fellow senior Megan Lee has also found the net against the Bulldogs in her collegiate career as she scored the winner in the 103rd minute in that 3-2 win in Baton Rouge during the 2013 regular season.
Mississippi State is led by its attacking quartet of junior Mallory Eubanks, sophomore Kennadi Carbin and freshmen Johanna Hamblett and MaKayla Waldner as each has scored a team-leading two goals for the season. In fact, the Bulldogs feature a diverse attack with 11 different goal scorers accounting for the team’s 16 goals in 14 matches this fall.
Friday’s hosts have kept just three clean sheets in those 14 matches ahead of kickoff as the Bulldogs rank No. 13 in the SEC with 16 goals conceded to their opponents through seven league matches in 2016.
After traveling to Starkville to face the Bulldogs on Friday night, the Tigers will wrap up the regular season with a three-game homestand during which they will host to 13th-ranked Auburn next Thursday night, Alabama on Oct. 23 and 11th-ranked Arkansas on Oct. 27. Their home match against Auburn is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.