At the halfway point of its Southeastern Conference schedule, the LSU soccer team couldn’t be in a better position.
The Tigers (8-3-2, 4-0-1 SEC) are the only unbeaten team in the conference and currently sit atop the standings five games through the SEC slate. LSU is off to its best start in conference play in program history, and its six-game unbeaten streak will be at stake when Missouri (6-6-1, 2-2-1 SEC) pays its first ever visit to the LSU Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. tonight.
LSU enters tonight’s matchup following last weekend’s road sweep of Arkansas and Alabama. On Oct. 4, LSU defeated Arkansas, 5-3, in a back-and-forth shootout. LSU wrapped up the weekend with a 2-1, double-overtime victory at Alabama on Sunday, good for its third overtime victory of 2013.
“We’ve got a lot of really good scoring chances in a lot of these [previous] games,” said senior goalkeeper Megan Kinneman. “We just had a game where we finally came through and scored some goals. I think that it was a long time coming to get those goals, and it was nice to actually put them all in the net.”
Freshman forward Summer Clarke made her mark over the weekend, scoring a hat trick against Arkansas and delivering both of LSU’s goals at Alabama. Clarke earned multiple accolades for her efforts, including SEC Offensive Player of the Week and TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Week.
LSU coach Brian Lee said Clarke has become more comfortable with the college game and her teammates, resulting in the barrage of goals. Clarke, who leads LSU with eight goals, said she scored a hat trick previously in her career, but was still impressed with herself for accomplishing the feat at the collegiate level.
“I was able to finish the chances I was given,” Clarke said. “In other games, I had similar chances, and I wasn’t really scoring them and finishing the opportunities I had.”
This weekend, every team in the SEC will play only on Friday night as opposed to the usual Friday and Sunday schedule. Kinneman and Lee agreed the extra time to rest will be beneficial at this point in the season.
“It’s a benefit for us and everyone else in the SEC in terms of general player health,” Lee said. “Two of these two-game weekends in the SEC are enough, so we’re looking forward to this weekend.”
Last weekend, LSU showed it could adjust to any style of soccer. Whether Missouri chooses to play a close game or a fast-paced shootout, LSU has shown it can handle it all.
“[The players are] really competitive and tough-minded,” Lee said. “Across the board, they just really want to win each game. They have taken the scouting reports well and adapted them to each game at the time, and I think combining those two things has caused a lot of success.”
“[The players] have taken the scouting reports well and adapted them to each game at the time, and I think combining those two things has caused a lot of success.”
Who: LSU (8-3-2, 4-0-1 SEC) vs. Missouri (6-6-1, 2-2-1 SEC)
When: Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
Where: LSU Soccer Stadium