Entering the 2014 season, the LSU soccer team featured five players who earned All-Southeastern Conference honors at some point in their Tiger careers.
One of those five All-SEC selections was junior forward Fernanda Piña, whose first two seasons in Baton Rouge seemed like the start of a stellar career. The Tigers’ Mexico native earned Second-Team, All-SEC honors in 2013 after she started 15 games and poured in four goals, which was second on the team.
Piña’s debut was nearly as impressive. She scored a team-leading four goals during her freshman season and also dished out four assists, which gave her 12 total points to lead the Tigers.
But Piña’s third season at LSU has gone differently than her first two. Her playing time has steadily dipped with each passing contest, and her impact for the Tigers has slowly diminished.
Piña can’t explain why she hasn’t been able to get on the field lately.
“I’m very confused honestly, but whatever helps the team, I’m good with that,” Piña said. “I don’t understand it, but I accept it. If it’s for the best, I will always accept it.”
Though Piña’s been stationed mostly on the bench in recent weeks, her junior season began on the field. She started in 10 of the Tigers’ first 12 games this season, and she scored two goals during that span.
But things quickly changed when LSU visited then-No. 20 South Carolina on Oct. 5. After averaging nearly 47 minutes per contest up to that point, Piña’s playing time was slashed to only 19 minutes.
Piña’s time on the pitch plummeted to eight minutes in the Tigers’ next game against Alabama on Oct. 9, leading to a five-game span in which Piña averaged a mere 19 minutes per contest.
“I just started playing less and less every time,” Piña said. “It’s been really tough for me, but it’s out of my hands.”
LSU soccer coach Brian Lee said the emergence of other players and a changing of the Tigers’ formation led to the decreased playing time for Piña. But Lee added that he understands her frustration with the lack of game time.
“For any player, playing time is always a motivator one way or another,” Lee said. “It’s an issue they’ve all got to deal with. At some point in everybody’s career, you’re confronted with it. It’ll test who you are as a player and a person, and it’s all about how you react.”
However, Piña’s lack of time on the field didn’t result in improvement for LSU. The Tigers dropped seven of their eight games since Lee removed Piña from the starting lineup and were outscored 15-5 during that span.
Piña, whose 10 career goals trail only LSU sophomore Summer Clarke’s 17, said it was painful watching the team struggle because she felt she could make a difference.
“It was a shock for me because I wasn’t playing, and we were losing and I felt like I could help the team,” Piña said. “If you’re not playing and the team’s winning, you understand that the girls that are playing are helping the team and your role is on the bench, and that’s fine.
“But whenever you’re losing and losing and you’re on the bench and you feel like you can help the team, that’s when it gets frustrating.”
LSU junior midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco, Piña’s closest friend on the team, said she’s tried to encourage Piña because she’s experienced a similar situation in her career and understands how standing on the sidelines can affect a player’s confidence.
“As a player, it’s always hard because everyone wants to play,” Gomez-Junco said. “It’s hard sometimes to keep your head up, but it’s soccer. It’s good to have that inner competition on the team, and it’ll make her that much better of a player.”
With the 2014 campaign now in the books, all that remains for Piña is her senior season. All but one player from LSU’s team will return next season, which means Piña likely will be pitted against the same obstacles she faced this season.
But Piña said she’s learned from her experiences this year and believes she’ll become a better player for it.
“The tough thing about not playing is losing your confidence,” Piña said. “People will tell you to stay confident, but when you’re living that, it’s not very easy to stay positive. It’s tough, but it’s part of being a soccer player. Sometimes you have to go through this, but it’ll make me grow. It’s been tough for me, but there’s a reason behind it.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.