The LSU soccer team’s goal entering the season was to finish as the 2008 Southeastern Conference champions.Coach Brian Lee wasn’t shy about setting the bar high.”At the end of the year, we’re going to judge ourselves by whether or not we’re SEC champions,” Lee said.The Tigers begin their championship quest this weekend as they open SEC play on the road against a pair of Mississippi schools.LSU (6-0-0) begins its road swing Friday at 7 p.m. against Mississippi State (5-4-0) and Sunday at 1 p.m. against Ole Miss (2-4-2).The Tigers face a Mississippi State squad which has won three of its previous four games, by a combined score of 12-3.Lee said he expects Bulldog fans to do everything they can to prevent unbeaten LSU from squashing their team’s hot streak.”Mississippi State is one of the toughest home environments in our conference,” Lee said. “The fans will be out there with their cowbells.”LSU’s 6-0 mark and No. 9 ranking are both school bests.Senior forward Roslyn Jones said the pressure of being at the top only adds fuel to the team’s motivational fire.”If there’s any pressure at all, it’s exciting pressure,” Jones said. “We want teams to come out hard.”Senior defender Casey Crawford echoed those sentiments and stressed the importance of the task at hand.”The toughest part is making sure everyone stays focused [away from home],” Crawford said. “We’ve struggled with that in the past, but we’ve come a long way since then.”LSU finished with a 6-3-3 regular season record away from the LSU Soccer Complex last year. The Tigers are already 3-0 on the road in 2008.Lee said the improvement is a result of his squad’s “killer instinct.””When we’re up, 2-0, you want to see them push on for that third goal,” Lee said.That killer instinct shows in the box scores.LSU scores more goals per game (3.5) than any team in the SEC. They also allow the fewest, only .33 goals per game.The important thing is to start SEC play with a positive attitude, Lee said.”We want to get off to a good start,” Lee said. “And not just the result, but positive in how we play.”Jones said anything besides a 2-0 weekend would be a disappointment.”We want to put teams away,” Jones said. “We want to walk away with two wins.”—-Contact David Harvey at [email protected]