No. 20 LSU (12-3-1, 6-3-1) is hoping for a second-straight run into the NCAA postseason as its conference slate comes to a close.Following Sunday’s 2-1 loss to No. 7 Florida, the Tigers sit tied with Auburn atop the Southeastern Conference Western Division standings. A win against Arkansas on Friday would send them into the postseason SEC tournament as the second seed.”Sunday games are hard like we’ve always said,” said junior midfielder Malorie Rutledge. “We need to bounce back in our play against Arkansas and get a win there and go into the SEC tournament. Hopefully we can play [Florida] in the SEC tournament.”Much like in college baseball, the SEC selects the top eight teams in conference play to participate in its annual soccer tournament held in Orange Beach, Al. Play starts Wednesday and concludes next Sunday. LSU advanced to the semifinals in 2007 but was eliminated by eventual SEC champion Florida.Depending on how the Tigers fare in Orange Beach, they could be selected to their second-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. LSU competed in the NCAA tournament for the first time ever in 2007, defeating Samford, 1-0, in the opening round before falling 4-0 to Florida State, the tournament’s eventual runner up.The NCAA selects the field for its soccer tournament in similar fashion to the more publicized basketball tournament. Automatic berths are given to 30 conference champions, and 34 at-large teams are selected by a committee based on record, strength of schedule and RPI rating.The Tigers held an RPI ranking of 45 as of Oct. 19, with a 4-1 victory against Mountain West Conference champion BYU. But LSU has no wins against opponents that are currently ranked.”Right now we know exactly what we have to do,” said freshman keeper Mo Isom. “Our backs are against the wall, and we need to make it into the NCAA tournament.”The NCAA will announce the field Nov. 10, one day after the SEC tournament’s conclusion. The Tigers were selected as an at-large berth last year with a 12-5-7 record, including a win against No. 6 Tennessee and ties against No. 5 Texas and No. 21 Georgia.Unlike basketball, the NCAA only seeds the top-16 teams in the tournament into four groups of four. The remaining 48 teams are placed unseeded into those four brackets.”We have to win the SEC tournament to even think about seeding possibilities,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “We’ve got to win some games to get into the tournament for sure, right now. So we’ve got to go win some games starting Friday night.”The first three rounds of the tournament will begin on Nov. 14, 21 and 28, respectively. Host sites will be selected by the NCAA from a pool of participating applicants when the field is announced. Team spokesman Will Stafford said LSU applied to host tournament games this season but won’t receive confirmation of its status until Nov. 10.The site for the semifinals and final, or the Women’s College Cup, is WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., home stadium of North Carolina State.—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]