Losing is impossible when opponents don’t score.
The LSU soccer team (2-3-1), fresh off consecutive shutouts against No. 12 BYU and Louisiana-Lafayette, travels to Illinois (5-1) on Friday before returning home Sunday to play in-state rival McNeese State.
The Tigers tied BYU, 0-0, snapping a three-game losing streak last Thursday and followed with a 1-0 win against Louisiana-Lafayette.
“I wouldn’t say we’re more defensive,” said junior defender Taryne Boudreau. “But with the game plan Coach [Brian Lee] has been coming up with, we needed more in the midfield for winning more balls.”
Neither the Tigers nor the Fighting Illini have allowed a goal in their last two games, and Illinois is undefeated at home.
Lee said he favors the Tigers if Friday’s game is a grind-it-out, low-scoring match.
“We’ve improved a lot defensively,” Lee said. “That’s one of our strengths right now, so hopefully it’s a defensive-oriented match and a low-scoring game.”
The Illini started the season with a bang, already compiling four shutouts. But they haven’t played any ranked opponents thus far.
“I know from talking with Brian they’re obviously a really great team and always have been,” Boudreau said. “We have to do what we did against BYU — coming out strong and playing our game.”
Lee said the Tigers have controlled the tempo in most of their matches. He said they have to work on finishing scoring chances and not giving up goals on what Lee called “big blunders.”
“We kind of sorted out the back line and center-midfielders, and we’ve just got to figure out how to score some goals against quality teams,” Lee said.
The Tigers suffered a blow when they lost freshman forward Kaley Blades, the Tigers’ second-leading scorer, to an MCL injury. But sophomore forward Carlie Banks, who scored the Tigers’ lone goal last weekend, said she’s not concerned about the Tigers’ lack of scoring.
“We just need to play from the midfield and get it out wide,” Banks said. “Up the wing we have a good attack, and I just think if we get it there we can create a good attack.”
LSU is away for Friday’s game and home for Sunday’s game for the second week in a row.
“We’re in such an isolated locale to get top-level competition we’ve got to travel a decent bit,” Lee said. “Rather than doing a bunch of away tournaments on the weekend, we’ll go play one quality game and then still get a home game on the backside.”
The Tigers return home Sunday to play McNeese State (2-6) and defend their 11-match home winning streak. The Cowgirls won, 3-2, against Louisiana-Monroe in their last match.
“We love playing at home,” Banks said. “I feel like coming back from the road it’s just like, ‘OK, we’re home. Let’s do this.'”
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]