Fresh off an NCAA tournament season, LSU soccer coach Brian Lee believes the Tigers have the perfect mix of veterans and youth to make a run for a Southeastern Conference championship.Eight seniors, including reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year Malorie Rutledge, return to welcome 10 freshmen — a few of whom might crack the starting lineup this season.”Reyna Lubin, Carlie Banks and Catherine Luparello have done well, and they’re fortunate initially that the opportunity might be there,” Lee said. “It comes down to them taking advantage of that opportunity.”Lubin already caught Lee’s eye in her first season in Baton Rouge.”Reyna Lubin is a freshman from Louisiana who we hope steps in and immediately contributes as a defensive ball winner,” Lee said. “We feel like we have loads of piano players. We need someone to carry the piano, and that will be Reyna’s job.”With all of the incoming freshmen — there are three more freshmen than sophomores and juniors combined — displaying early talent is essential to gain quality playing time.”We had Catherine Luparello, Reyna Lubin, and Hannah Linzay come in [the summer],” Rutledge said. “They were able to work out with us and play in our pickup games and get a good head start on all the other freshmen.”Sophomore goalkeeper Mo Isom graduated high school a   semester early and enrolled at LSU in the spring of 2008 to train before her freshman fall season. Isom said she realizes how important offseason experience is at the college level for LSU’s newcomers.”Reyna Lubin came in this summer, and I think [Lee’s] looking at a starting spot or some serious playing time for her,” Isom said. “The strength that she’s already gained in those few months separates her from so many of the other freshmen.”Luparello and Lubin, both forwards, helped themselves out by coming early. But Isom is impressed with another freshman — Carlie Banks.”[Banks] is going to make a big difference for us,” Isom said. “She’s fast and she’s quick. She’s little, so you think she could get pushed off the ball, but she’s so slippery no one can even get their hands on her.”Banks’ 5-foot-3-inch stature may not seem intimidating, but Isom isn’t the only one who sees her making an impact.”Carlie Banks is technically really sound. She’s really impressed me,” said senior midfielder Melissa Clarke. “She’s a hard worker, she’s a great team player and I really love playing with her.”It didn’t take long for Banks to prove her worth. In LSU’s first fall exhibition game against No. 15 Texas, Banks scored the first goal of the game in the Tigers’ 2-1 win.”It’s been a very eye-opening experience,” Banks said. “Playing for LSU is really an honor. I’m just really excited to be part of that.”Rutledge is coming off a spectacular offensive year, but she understands the seniors will need to assist the freshmen if they want to win.”The incoming freshmen are going to be a little out of their element on their first game,” Rutledge said. “So we kind of just try to calm them down.”Rutledge predicted the future a little bit — the Tigers looked out of sync across the board in their season-opening 2-0 loss at home to Memphis.Despite the loss, Lee and his No. 25 Tigers are anticipating one of their best years in the program’s history as they enter the season cracking the preseason national rankings for the first time ever.
 
 
 
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