Florida’s mascot is the Gators, but for the LSU soccer team, just consider UF a white whale.Florida is the Southeastern Conference’s three-time defending champions and boasts a national championship to its name. The No. 17 Gators (11-4-2, 5-1-2) are one of the biggest obstacles left on No. 14 LSU’s way to its first conference title, and they are the only SEC team the Tigers (10-3-3, 6-1) can never seem to beat.”It would mean a whole lot to win. Florida is the standard bearer in the conference,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “LSU has never beaten Florida, and at some point we’re going to.”Lee tried unsuccessfully for a win five times in his LSU tenure. The Gators outscored the Tigers, 11-3, in those meetings, helping sink LSU’s bid for SEC regular season and tournament honors on two separate occasions.”There’s certainly a much greater comfort level going in now,” Lee said. “We really feel like we’re at a point where we hope our best is good enough.”LSU enters this year’s game with as much momentum as its ever had. The Tigers are tied for the SEC lead with No. 9 South Carolina and have won or tied eight of their last nine matches.”You never know how a game is going to roll, but this is certainly the time of year when you want to play at your best,” Lee said.The LSU defense is a big factor behind the good run of play. The Tigers allowed just three goals while scoring 22 in seven SEC games. Sophomore goal keeper Mo Isom said a big reason for the improvement has been sophomore defender Allysha Chapman and junior midfielder Courtney Alexander, both of whom took spots on the back line this season.”It is directly related to those two girls in our defensive unit,” Isom said in an e-mail. “We have only allowed three goals in all of SEC play so far. That’s a tremendous statistic for this conference, and I can’t even take complete credit for it. My defense is phenomenal.”It’s a sign of Florida’s success that its third-place standing in the conference is considered a disappointment by many. The Gators drew with last-place Mississippi State, 1-1, on Oct. 2 before dropping an overtime loss, 3-2,  to Ole Miss.”They haven’t been as fortunate as last year,” Lee said. “If they play MSU on a dry field they probably don’t drop points there … and I think the SEC is better as a whole than it was last year.”A Florida win and a South Carolina draw or loss could shoot the Gators into first place by the end of tonight despite the perceived slow start.”We’re going to consider them the champions until someone else beats them,” Lee said. “They’ve got a lot of come-from-behind victories, and that shows good character.”The Tigers certainly remember their 2008 meeting with Florida. LSU seemed prepared to exercise their demons when they took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Gators roared back for two second-half goals and a win, 2-1. It seemed the Tigers had equalized just two minutes from the end of regulation, but sophomore forward Kellie Murphy’s goal was disallowed in a controversial offside decision.”We are a stronger, better, smarter team this year,” Isom said. “Our senior class has worked so hard these past four years, and they truly deserve to finally down the Gators in a regular season match.”–Contact David Helman at [email protected]