LSU captured its first Southeastern Conference Western Division title last season against Arkansas.And Friday night in the LSU Soccer Complex, the Tigers got the same result against the same team.The No. 14 Tigers (13-3-1, 7-3-1) clinched their second straight western division title with their 3-1 win against the Razorbacks (11-8, 4-7).The LSU seniors were honored before the contest in the last home game of the season, and one senior continued the celebration into the first half of play.Senior forward Roslyn Jones scored a goal from the right side of the 6-yard box to the inside of the left post to score her seventh goal of the season. The goal put the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the second minute of the contest.”Scoring on senior night was incredible, especially getting up that early in the game,” Jones said. “I had two chances to maybe get a shot off, but I just tried to stay composed and get the best shot that I could.”Neither team scored again in the first half, but 14 minutes into the second, LSU junior midfielder Melissa Clarke added a pair of goals to put the contest out of reach for the Razorbacks.Clarke rifled a shot from 25 yards out to the left post and into the back of the net at the 58:39 mark of the game and fired another from 16 yards only 38 seconds later to give LSU its 3-0 lead.”We didn’t play very well toward the end of the first half, and we had a good pep talk at halftime that seemed to pick us up,” Clarke said. “We came out with a lot more energy after halftime.”Arkansas added its only goal in the 86th minute of the contest, but it was too little too late.The win gave LSU a No. 2 overall seed in the SEC tournament — the highest in the school’s history.”We’re excited about that,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “We’ve got a good team, and we’re looking forward to the SEC tournament. We’ve locked up a two seed, so finishing second in the SEC is nothing to be shy about, and we’re happy that the kids did it.”The Tigers say they aren’t content with only winning the west and have their eyes on a larger prize. “We feel like we’ve learned from the Florida game, and looking ahead now, we’re so excited about this SEC tournament coming up,” Jones said. “We’re the No. 2 seed going in, and we feel like we have a great chance of winning this tournament.”The SEC tournament lasts from Wednesday through Sunday in Orange Beach, Ala. LSU’s first match will be against No. 7-seed Ole Miss at noon Wednesday.—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]
Soccer: Tigers capture second West title
By Johanathan Brooks
Sports Contributor
Sports Contributor
November 1, 2008