The 2014 season hasn’t exactly gone as planned for the LSU soccer team.
With a group of talented yet inexperienced freshmen and sophomores making up the majority of the roster, the young Tigers have struggled to maintain their consistency from match to match en route to a 4-3-1 record through eight games.
But tonight’s match marks the beginning of a new season for LSU — the Southeastern Conference season. Despite LSU’s inconsistent play thus far, coach Brian Lee said the squad’s postseason aspirations are still within reach.
“You always want to win all your games, and then you’re in great shape,” Lee said. “But if we take care of ourselves in the SEC and achieve what we think we can, we’ll be fine.”
LSU will continue its toughest road stretch of the season when its hits the pitch against Missouri (5-1-2) in an SEC-opening match at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Walton Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.
The match will be available on the SEC Network Plus.
For LSU, tonight’s contest against Missouri will be the third of a four-game road swing that kicked off with a 4-3 victory against BYU on Sept. 11 followed by a 1-0 defeat against then-No. 25 Duke on Sunday.
But senior midfielder Alex Arlitt said tonight’s SEC match will likely present a more physical challenge than the young club has seen this season.
“Every team has a history against the other SEC teams, so there’s always a little bit of a blood battle in conference games,” Arlitt said. “They’re all good teams, and it’s going to be a fight every single time.”
LSU’s history with Missouri is rather short, but LSU has had the upper hand over Missouri.
Missouri and LSU have squared off twice since conference realignment in 2012, and LSU has won both matches by a combined three goals.
But Lee said SEC-opening matches are typically more intense than other conference games.
“Early in the [SEC] season, everyone is jazzed up,” Lee said. “Everybody’s excited about the start of SEC play. The games will be really physical, they’ll be really fast, and we just have to make sure our young team is ready for it.”
Lee’s squads have historically have been prepared for the early conference challenge. Since Lee took the helm in 2005, LSU has outscored opponents 19 to six in SEC-opening matches for a 5-2-2 mark. LSU’s two losses were by a combined two goals.
But Lee hasn’t had a squad with as many young players in key positions as he has this season. Eight freshmen and sophomores have started in games for LSU, and it’s still unclear when Arlitt, the team’s only senior, will return from an ankle injury she suffered in the second game of the year.
However, junior midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco said LSU’s overall youth could actually work to the squad’s advantage in what is shaping up to be a physical match.
“As a freshman or a sophomore, you’re more motivated and anxious to play,” Gomez-Junco said. “Obviously, we’re going to play against teams that have more juniors and seniors, but we can balance that by being aggressive and having the mentality of winning regardless of who we’re playing against.”
LSU will face a Missouri squad that’s currently riding a six-game win streak, with its last loss on Aug. 24 against No. 21 West Virginia.
But Lee said LSU’s tough schedule, which was ranked No. 6 and 22 spots ahead of Missouri’s to start the season, has sped the growth process of his young squad and prepared it for SEC competition.
“That’s what the games against Duke, BYU and Stephen F. Austin were all about, getting them ready for to compete at the SEC level,” Lee said. “Some of the other teams might have played weaker schedules, and that’ll be a tough adjustment for them. Hopefully, the difficulty in the nonconference schedule will helps us be prepared.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.