The LSU soccer team will try to make history Halloween night.The No. 18 Tigers (11-4-3, 7-2-1) enter tonight’s regular season finale in a tie for second place in the Southeastern Conference after beating South Carolina on Sunday, and they could finish with their first-ever SEC championship provided the right things happen.”As much as anything we want to continue to be playing really well,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “Other than the Florida game, we feel like late in the season we keep getting better.”The Tigers will likely have an eye on the score of tonight’s South Carolina-Florida game when they take the field against Arkansas (8-6-4, 2-6-2) tonight in Fayetteville, Ark. If LSU defeats the Razorbacks and South Carolina either draws or defeats Florida, the Tigers will take home at least a share of the SEC championship.A South Carolina win and an LSU win would result in a split title, as both teams would finish the season with 25 points in the team standings. An LSU win and a draw would give the Tigers the title outright, while a Gator win would give Florida its 10th SEC title regardless of what the Tigers accomplish.”We just worry about ourselves and what we can control,” Lee said. “All we can control is do we beat Arkansas or not on Friday night, and then the game will end, and we’ll try to add everything up.”LSU can still finish the regular season with some hardware, regardless of what happens in Gainesville, Fla.A win tonight would give LSU its third-straight SEC West title and clinch at least the No. 2 seed in next weekend’s SEC tournament. LSU can also improve its chances at a good seed in the NCAA tournament with good performances to close out the SEC campaign.”Obviously it’s a big deal, but it’s not the last game,” said senior midfielder Katherine Lagow. “It’s a huge game for all of us, especially the seniors because we have the potential to win the SEC.”Arkansas has endured a tough SEC slate after a strong start to the season. The Razorbacks didn’t get an SEC win until the fifth game of the conference season, and their two SEC wins came against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, the No. 12 and No. 8 ranked teams in the conference, respectively.”Hopefully it goes our way, but you never know,” said senior forward Amanda Carreno. “You can’t count on anybody else to do it for you. You’ve got to go out and do it yourself.”LSU is Arkansas’ fourth-straight game against ranked competition. The Razorbacks have pushed Florida, South Carolina and Ole Miss to close finishes.The Gators took the lead in the conference Sunday by grinding out a 1-0 victory despite being outshot, 15-14.”We played awesome,” said Arkansas coach Erin Aubry in a news release. “It’s flattering when a team like Florida wants to kill the clock against you. That shows we’re dangerous when we’re confident.”
The Razorbacks have failed to score in seven of 10 conference games this season, which should come as welcome news for an LSU back line which has allowed just three of their conference opponents to score.”We know what we’re capable of — we know that the person next to us is going to get the job done,” Lagow said. “It helps a lot that we have a really good midfield that helps us defend.”—–Contact David Helman at [email protected]