At any level of soccer, goals are a tough commodity to acquire.
The LSU soccer team knows this better than most, as coach Brian Lee said the Tigers are switching offensive philosophies to replace 2011 All-Southeastern Conference striker Taryne Boudreau, who graduated in May.
“We want to rely more on a team attack than the brilliance of one player,” Lee said.
Boudreau was nothing short of brilliant last season, scoring 12 goals and notching six assists — contributing in 53 percent of LSU’s 2011 scoring — during her first and only season in the attacking third.
Lee said his preferred style is built around wide midfielder runs, more crosses, better set pieces and fewer goals from lengthy distances.
It’s an approach resembling that of the 2009 squad, which averaged 2.3 goals per match.
That team was Lee’s most successful team at LSU, posting a 15-4-5 record and bowing out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on penalty kicks.
Senior forward Carlie Banks might enjoy a return to that season’s play. As a freshman on that year’s squad, Banks enjoyed her best season by far, netting seven goals and four assists.
“We’ve definitely started being more aggressive in practice,” Banks said. “It’s similar to 2009, how we’re pushing the [midfielders] up the wings and angling crosses toward the goal.”
Junior Addie Eggleston and redshirt sophomore Kaley Blades formed a trio with Banks that was erratic but promising in support of Boudreau last season, combining for nine goals and 14 assists.
Shifty midfielder Natalie Martineau, who paced the Tigers with 10 assists last season, also graduated.
But even with Boudreau’s breakout season and Martineau’s maneuvering, LSU still struggled to find the net last fall. The Tigers tallied just 34 goals in 22 matches and were outscored 7-0 in two postseason blowouts.
The 2010 team was worse offensively, barely averaging a goal per game and being shut out in 10 matches.
Last August, Lee said a team struggling for goals usually needs a creative change, prompting him to move Boudreau forward early last season.
Boudreau had toiled in the defensive half most of her career before eventually leading the SEC in 2011 conference goals, and LSU may need a similarly unexpected spark in 2012.
That spark could come from sophomore Alex Arlitt — a defensive midfielder most of last season — who scored the game-winning goal to defeat Oklahoma, 1-0, in Monday night’s season opener.
Lee said Arlitt has one of the strongest legs on the team, but he’s not looking for a single player to dominate possession or scoring in the Tigers’ “new-look, aesthetically pleasing” offense.
“It’s just not fair to expect any player to step up and fill the void that’s been left by Taryne,” Lee said.
Some combination of LSU strikers may have to fill it, or the Tigers could suddenly find goals to again be a scarce entity.
