The LSU soccer team heads to Columbia, S.C., to improve its postseason hopes with a Friday night matchup against South Carolina.
The Tigers (6-5-4) and Gamecocks (4-6-4) both go into the game following 1-0 Southeastern Conference wins, but each team is still pushing to qualify for the 2012 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament.
Neither team is foreign to overtime games. LSU competed in seven and South Carolina played in six, but South Carolina has not won an overtime game in 2012.
With a win, LSU head coach Brian Lee said the Tigers have the opportunity to move up six spots in the rankings if other SEC games play out in their favor.
“We’ll go down to the wire, but it’ll certainly be a big win,” Lee said.
The Tigers are led by freshman forwards Fernanda Piña and Colby Maffei with seven and six points, respectively. Junior goalkeeper Megan Kinneman has saved 85 shots, and her opposing goalkeepers have saved 66.
South Carolina is coming off its first SEC win of 2012 with a 1-0 shutout against Georgia as junior forward/defender Gabrielle Gilbert scored her second goal of the season.
South Carolina is led by junior forward/midfielder Danielle Au and freshman forward/midfielder Courtney Angotti-Smith with eight points each. The Gamecocks also have tallied 12 yellow cards, while their opponents have totaled three.
During practices this week, Lee and the team continued to work on consistency and cohesiveness because of the large number of young players this season.
“Even though it’s late in the season, we’re still growing and getting better,” Lee said.
Away games have been friendly to LSU this season. The Tigers are 2-0-1 on the road, compared to a 4-5-3 record at home. The team was 7-1-1 at home in 2011 and 6-6 away.
Against Vanderbilt on Sunday, Lee moved the benches to the other side of the field and tweaked pre-game procedures to give the feel of an away environment.
“For the first time since I’ve been here, the team played better away than at home,” Lee said. “It worked. We played great.”
Junior goalkeeper Megan Kinneman, 1, punches a corner kick out of the box Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The Gators defeated the Tigers 2-0.
