The LSU soccer team have already had an incredible season to date, but they now have a chance to make it their best in program history.
Before 2018 , the Tigers (13-6-4)   had only been to five NCAA Tournaments , and only advanced to the second round twice . Not only did they reach the NCAA Tournament this year, they advanced to the second round after defeating Boston University on penalty kicks.
LSU will travel to Tallahassee on Nov. 16 to take on USC , a team that has made the NCAA Tournament five years straight and won the championship in 2016 . It will be a tough task for the Tigers to take down the Trojans , but in LSU coach Brian Lee’s mind, they’re playing their best soccer to date.
“Every week I tell the girls ‘we’re still getting better’ and I truly believe that.” Lee said. “This team’s mental toughness is through the roof, and they really just want to win and advance.”
USC had a record of 16-2-2 on the year, with their only two losses coming in overtime to 2017 National Champion Stanford and No. 2 national seed UCLA .
USC is a program rich in tradition, and while LSU had success in the late 2000’s making three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Tigers only have one appearance (2015) in the past seven years , and finished 12th and 13th in the Southeastern Conference in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
But 2018 has been the year that the Tigers have turned it around, and could foreshadow future success. There are only three seniors on the current roster, and while they played important roles, its been the underclassmen that have flashed moments of brilliance.
The Tigers will need major contributions from sophomores Lucy Parker , Chiara Ritchie-Williams ,Tinaya Alexander and Adrienne Richardson , who have played major roles for the team this year, whether its scoring, defending, or creating scoring opportunities. In 2017 , Parker made first team All-SEC while Richardson made the second team , contributing a combined 10 goals and two assists on the season.
So far this season, the Tigers have far exceeded expectations, and just when it seems like they’re finally going to fall short, they keep winning.
“Honestly more than anything it’s just been grinding out games, even when we don’t have our best,” Parker said. “We know what expectations we had for ourselves at the start of the season, and we’ve definitely surpassed them. Now we just have to keep setting the bar higher because that’s what it’s going to take to reach the next round, and maybe even the College Cup .”