The LSU soccer team opens up home Southeastern Conference play this weekend against its two geographically closest rivals. Tonight the Tigers host Ole Miss at 7 p.m. and Sunday they face off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 2 p.m. in the LSU Soccer Complex.
The Tigers (7-3-1, 0-2 SEC) lost both games in their SEC opening weekend and need to have a successful weekend to keep SEC and NCAA tournament hopes alive.
“If we go 0-2 this weekend, we will pretty much be eliminated from the SEC tournament and obviously eliminated from the NCAA tournament,” said coach George Fotopoulos.
Ole Miss (10-2, 1-1 SEC) and LSU have had similar seasons thus far. Both started off the season by going on significant winning streaks, Ole Miss with seven and LSU with five. Recently each teams has faltered though. LSU is 2-3-1 since a 5-0 start while the Rebels have gone 3-2 after their 7-0 opening.
But the Rebels won their last outing by shutting out Tennessee 1-0 on Sunday after falling to Georgia 2-1. Ole Miss also had a close match when it fell in overtime to Florida State 2-1.
Although LSU is tied for last with Alabama in the SEC West and Ole Miss is tied for first with State and Arkansas, the Tigers’ offensive production nearly matches that of the Rebels. Ole Miss ranks first and LSU second in shots, goals and goals per game.
“This is a big game for our team because we obviously need a win and it is our first conference match at home against a very good Ole Miss team,” Fotopoulos said. “We are facing one of our rivals and this, as all SEC matches are, will be a tough one.”
The Bulldogs (7-4-1, 1-1 SEC) will also present the Tigers with a challenge. LSU leads the series 6-2, but State defeated the Tigers in their last meeting in Baton Rouge 2-0 in 2001.
Freshman defender Ashleigh Gunning said the Tigers need to improve their play in order to win this weekend.
“We haven’t been playing well, so playing well is the most important thing,” Gunning said. “We are going to have to pick it up a lot from last week. We’re going to have to keep a little more possession of the ball and do what we’re told and play how we need to play.”
Fotopoulos said he did not change the way he prepared the team to play, but he did concentrate more on having the team in game shape.
“My preparation hasn’t really been any different,” he said. “If anything, we may have worked a little bit harder and put more emphasis on fitness level.”
The LSU soccer team has many young players and Fotopoulos said it is vital for them to learn through experience.
“We’re just a very young team,” he said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing and we’re just trying to get them to understand that playing in the SEC is a very difficult thing. In order to compete, you have to bring your ‘A’ game every time.”
In both of LSU’s losses last weekend, the Tigers were unable to score a goal.
“Obviously, we haven’t scored a lot of goals lately and it important for us to get some goal scoring,” Fotopoulos said. “We might not get many opportunities, but the ones we do have we should finish them.”