Nothing has come easily this season for the LSU soccer team.
The Tigers (7-8-4, 4-3-3) have endured a goalkeeper battle, constantly shuffled lineups, a record-setting amount of scoreless draws and growing pains that come with a roster that includes 11 true freshmen.
But all the uncertainties have produced one simple truth: LSU will need three consecutive wins in the Southeastern Conference tournament, which begins today for LSU against Tennessee, to qualify for its fourth straight NCAA tournament.
It has been nearly a calendar year since the Tigers last won three consecutive matches, and LSU has never won the SEC tournament. LSU lost in the final to South Carolina last season.
LSU dropped one spot to the sixth seed in the tournament after Auburn’s win Friday cost LSU the SEC West championship, but now LSU can’t face the top seed, Florida, until the championship match.
“We’ve worked all season to get where we finally are now,” said junior midfielder Kellie Murphy. “It’s been a little bumpy along the way, but we feel confident that we can do well in the tournament.”
First up is Tennessee (10-8-1, 7-3-1), an opponent the Tigers have had relative success against in recent years. The two teams tied, 1-1, in Knoxville, Tenn., earlier this season after junior midfielder Natalie Martineau bailed out LSU with a last-gasp equalizer.
There will be no ties this time, as all games must have a winner to keep the tournament going.
Some of those games may come down to penalty shootouts, which has been something of a nightmare for the Tigers recently.
LSU is 0-3 in shootouts since 2008, with junior goalkeeper Mo Isom taking all three losses.
Isom has since ceded the job to freshman goalkeeper Megan Kinneman, but Kinneman failed to stop either of the penalty kicks she faced in the regular season.
LSU coach Brian Lee is still confident in his goalkeeper to help propel the Tigers to a deep run.
“Megan’s been tremendous all year,” he said. “The intelligence and composure to punt the ball out of bounds with 20 seconds left [against Arkansas] is a good example of Megan. While everyone else is running around panicked, she punts the ball out of bounds and the game ends.”
Kinneman will have to play composed to compensate for an erratic offense that typically leaves the back line with no margin for error. The Tigers have had 14 of 19 matches decided by one goal or fewer this season, many of which they were on the wrong end.
“We’re struggling scoring. … It’s either going to be a nil-nil game or a one-nil game,” said senior defender Courtney Alexander. “In the SEC, you can’t have huge mental mistakes because the other team will capitalize on it.”
Ultimately, the Tigers may benefit from their grind-it-out style in the postseason.
“We’re going to hang our hat on defending,” Lee said. “If we’re going to hope for shutouts ourselves, it’s going to take one goal to win it, and that’s just the character and nature of this team.”
 
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Contact Ryan Ginn at [email protected]