It’s about to get physical for the LSU soccer team.
With half the season in the rearview mirror, all that remains for the Tigers is the strenuous Southeastern Conference schedule. The brutality of the games will pick up, the tensions will flare and the stakes will rise. But LSU’s postseason aspirations rest on its ability to meet the physical demands that are bound to characterize each match.
The Tigers (4-5-1, 0-1 SEC) will look to secure their first victory since Sept. 11 when they hit the pitch against the offensive firepower No. 6 Texas A&M (7-1-1, 1-0 SEC) at 7 p.m. tonight at LSU Soccer Stadium.
The young LSU club, comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores, was shell-shocked during its first taste of SEC play against Missouri on Sept. 19. LSU fell 3-1 in a match with 19 fouls, countless pushes and shoves and one bloody left cheek for sophomore midfielder Emma Fletcher.
But LSU soccer coach Brian Lee said rough play is commonplace this time of year.
“It put a bad taste in all of our mouths, just the pure physicality and the off-the-ball stuff that you just don’t see in a regular game,” Lee said. “But when you go back and look at the tape from the SEC games, almost every game you’ll see something that’s a little chippy off the ball or borderline dirty. But it’s just the kids getting a little extra fervor in the SEC.”
Tigers’ senior midfielder Alex Arlitt said its up to the team to match the heightened level of intensity in SEC competition.
“Hopefully everyone’s ready to come battle because that’s part of college soccer,” Arlitt said. “You have to know it’s going to get physical at times, and you can’t give up whenever it does get physical. It’s going to be a fight every single time.”
It’s also going to be a fight for the Tigers to slow down the Aggies’ explosive attack, which has a conference-leading 199 shots for 23 goals.
Leading Texas A&M is the senior duo of midfielder Kelley Monogue and forward Shea Groom, the top goal scorers in the SEC. Their 15 combined goals are the most for any pair of teammates in the conference.
“[The Aggies] can score goals from anywhere on the field,” Lee said. “They’re especially dangerous on set pieces. Monogue hits a great free kick, and Shea Groom might not be the tallest player on the field, but she’s really good in the air.”
However, Fletcher said the Tigers have their fair share of players who can balance out Texas A&M’s attack.
“They’ve got some key
players that we know of, but we’ve got some good players that can mark them and shut them down,” Fletcher said. “We’ve also got some good attackers as well, so if we can get things ticking in our attack, we’ll be good.”
Fletcher’s comments aren’t far off the mark. Sophomore Summer Clarke and freshman Jorian Baucom, LSU’s starting forwards, are the third-highest scoring tandem in the SEC with a combined 10 goals.
On the defensive end, freshman goalkeeper Lily Alfeld has recently been a force in the goal. The New Zealand native has 37 saves in the past six games to give her an SEC-leading 45 on the season.
But if LSU is to end its three-game losing streak, freshmen defenders Jordane Carvery and Alexis Urch and midfielder Christyna Pitre will likely be major reasons why. The trio will be responsible for disrupting the Aggies on set pieces and corner kicks, a Texas A&M specialty.
Lee is confident his freshmen will live up to the challenge.
“Those three are very good in the air, but they’re very young,” Lee said. “So to ask them to take on this responsibility is asking a lot of three freshmen, but I think they’re up for it. That’s the reason we recruited Carvery, Pitre and Urch. They know that’s their job to go win those balls for us.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.