The LSU soccer team found a new home this season: the road.
As the Tigers prep for Thursday’s regular season finale, a Senior Night home match up with Arkansas, they’ll have to overcome an unusually brutal home record.
The LSU Soccer Stadium confines haven’t been merely beneficial in recent years.
The stadium — renovated and expanded prior to the 2011 season — has been downright scary to visitors.
Entering this season, LSU sported a 33-5-7 home mark from 2007-2011, or an .811 winning percentage.
The tables have turned this fall.
LSU has won four games each at home and on the road this season. But it has done that in only seven road games, while going 4-5-3 in Baton Rouge.
“In previous years, homefield has been our thing,” said senior midfielder Natalie Ieyoub. “Getting on the road put us away from distractions this year. That’s not how it always works.”
The 4-2-1 road mark — which is tied for the best road winning percentage in LSU soccer history — was capped by a two-goal overtime comeback win at Ole Miss last Friday and a 3-1 rout of No. 16 Missouri on Sunday.
LSU coach Brian Lee said the squad’s youth — the Tigers play five freshmen — is actually harder to corral at home versus on the road.
“You get focused on what’s important when you travel, especially as a young kid,” Lee said. “The team needed some bonding time and a chance to know each other better. It’s an experience that isn’t always available [at home].”
After a season-opening road win at Oklahoma, LSU played its next 10 matches at home.
That stretch exposed the Tiger’s home weakness, with LSU once failing to earn a win in four straight home contests for the first time in Lee’s eight-year tenure.
“That long homestretch might not have been the best thing,” Lee said. “Complacency and comfort set in a little bit.”
For a change, Lee brought the road environment to his players. Prior to LSU’s weekend homestand against Florida and Vanderbilt earlier this month, Lee reconfigured the Tigers’ practice routine and field setup.
“There wasn’t much warning, but we came into the locker room one day and the whole room was switched around,” said freshman midfielder Heather Magee. “The benches were moved to the other side of the field. He wanted us to feel uncomfortable, like we were at a different field.”
In a small sample size, the ploy seemed to work. LSU played a ranked Florida squad in a 2-0 loss and then earned its first SEC home win of the season two days later, defeating the Commodores, 1-0.
With an SEC Tournament berth practically dependent on at least a draw against the Razorbacks, the Tigers want to carry the results of their adopted road home with them, albeit with one difference.
“Let the play and the momentum we have do the work and not a crowd or a home field,” Magee said. “But when you score on the road, the crowd is just completely silent. We’ll take the goals and the wins, but maybe some cheering to go with them [Thursday] would be nice.”
