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LSU SOCCER EYES FIRST SEC TITLE IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE AT ARKANSAS
BATON ROUGE – Following
a historic 1-0 shutout of 11th-ranked Florida on Sunday, the LSU soccer
team will wrap up the 2011 regular season Friday night in Fayetteville,
Ark., as they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 7 p.m. CDT with an eye
on a share of its first Southeastern Conference championship.
The
Tigers (12-6-1, 7-3 SEC) secured their first victory over the Gators in
program history to move into a tie for second place with Florida on the
SEC table at 21 points apiece. South Carolina is three points clear in
first place with an 8-2 record and 24 points in conference play.
With
a victory over the Razorbacks and a Florida win at home over South
Carolina on Friday, LSU would claim a share of its first SEC
championship in the program’s 17-year history.
The Tigers
have already captured their fourth SEC Western Division crown in five
seasons after defeating Florida on Sunday as they now stand a full five
points clear of Auburn entering the weekend.
“One thing
we’ve learned this season is that the SEC is one of the deepest
conferences in the country with the quality of teams from top to
bottom,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We’ll face a very capable club
again tomorrow night in Arkansas that poses quite the challenge to our
team. They’re especially strong up front with their speed going
forward, so organization will be a key for us in the game.”
The
Razorbacks (4-13, 2-8) are looking to snap an eight-game losing streak
on Friday night after securing a sweep of Mississippi State and Ole
Miss on the opening weekend of SEC play.
In its last match
at Razorback Field on Oct. 20, Arkansas nearly scored an upset of
Florida while dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to the Gators. The
Razorbacks actually held a 1-0 lead through 76 minutes, before
surrendering the equalizer late in the second half and conceding the
winner in the first overtime period.
The Tigers enter
Friday’s fixture with a seven-game winning streak against their SEC
West rival dating to the 2004 season, including a four-game winning
streak in matches played at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville in that
time. The Tigers secured a 1-0 blanking over Arkansas in their last
meeting at the LSU Soccer Stadium in Baton Rouge to wrap up the 2010
regular season.
Senior Taryne Boudreau has been a
revelation for the Tigers with her performance in 2011 as she scored a
team-leading and career-high 11th goal of the season in LSU’s 1-0
shutout of Florida on Sunday.
Boudreau is making a strong
case for All-SEC and All-America recognition this fall as she is the
league’s No. 2-ranked scorer with eight goals and 19 points in 10
conference matches. Boudreau is also tied for the No. 2 spot with 11
goals and the No. 4 spot with 27 points among SEC scorers in all games
this year. That includes a career-high five game-winning goals and
four-game winning goals in SEC play in 2011.
Fellow senior
and Canadian international Natalie Martineau has also proven herself as
one of the league’s premier attacking midfielders this fall. While she
has scored four goals for the year, Martineau has posted 10 assists to
rank No. 2 in the SEC and tied for No. 10 in the NCAA during her senior
season.
In addition, senior goalkeeper Mo Isom continues
her ascent on SEC record books after pitching her SEC-leading seventh
shutout of the season at Florida on Sunday afternoon.
Isom
has now posted 29 clean sheets in her collegiate career to tie for the
No. 4 spot on the SEC’s career list with former Georgia goalkeeper
Nicole Williams (1997-2000). She is now just four clean sheets away
from tying the career mark of 33 shutouts set by Auburn’s Megan Rivera
from 2001-04.
LSU Soccer supporters with a subscription to
the Geaux Zone can watch a live video stream of the contest by logging
on to the Geaux Zone homepage at www.LSUsports.net. The live video of
Friday’s match will be shared by the University of Arkansas and its
RazorVision premium feature.
Fans can also receive live
updates throughout the match by liking LSU Soccer on Facebook and
following @LSUSoccer on Twitter as exclusive coverage will be provided
from Razorback Field.
After battling the Razorbacks on
Friday night, the Tigers kick off the 2011 postseason next week with
the SEC Tournament beginning Wednesday at the Orange Beach Sportsplex
in Orange Beach, Ala. The seeds for the eight-team tournament will be
determined following Friday’s regular-season finale. The Tigers are to
be seeded anywhere from No. 1 to No. 4 in the tournament, pending
Friday’s conference results.
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