For the LSU soccer team, the real test begins now.
After kicking off their 2010 campaign by pouring in eight goals against a punchless South Alabama side, the No. 18 Tigers (1-0) face a much stiffer challenge Saturday in the form of three-time defending Conference USA champion Memphis (2-0).
If LSU coach Brian Lee is concerned about his young squad looking ahead, he need only point to last year to illustrate the dangers of losing focus.
Memphis suffocated LSU’s attack in a 2-0 win to open the 2009 season, allowing no shots on goal during the match. Lee said that result is a distant memory for this year’s team, however.
“It’s not a huge factor,” he said. “We’re a very different team in almost every way than we were at the beginning of last season.”
The Tigers are different — the team graduated eight seniors and has only six returning starters.
Losing offensive stalwarts Melissa Clarke and Malorie Rutledge seemed immaterial last week, as 11 different Tigers tallied a goal or assist in the first match. The eight balls that found the back of the net were the most in a game for LSU since the 2004 season.
But the team also graduated three four-year starters on the back line, and this year’s unit hasn’t quite turned the corner. While the quartet helped keep a clean sheet against South Alabama, they merited only cautious praise post-match.
“The back four — we just need some organization work,” said Lee. “[They’re] good players, but not always playing together. We’re  younger, so we’ll maybe have the occasional misstep.”
Such mistakes will not be so easily dismissed this time around.
Memphis returns the previous two Conference USA Offensive Players of the Year, Vendula Strnadova and Ashley Berra. The duo combined for Memphis’ pair of goals in last year’s win against LSU.
Senior defender Courtney Alexander said the match is an opportunity for the defense to improve and gain much-needed playing experience.
“A lot of [what we need] is just playing together, which comes with playing minutes in games,” she said. “When games come, things happen, and you have to be able to adjust and learn. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think it’s getting ready to come together.”
The match is the opener of a critical stretch that will see the Tigers travel to face four different teams, all of whom are currently ranked in at least one top 25 poll.
“We want to see how we respond to a higher-level challenge, and we’re going to get that with Memphis,” Lee said. “The non-conference schedule is fantastic. I’m excited to see how we do going forward against some good teams.”
Lee said the non-conference slate is designed to simulate the demanding nature of Southeastern Conference play, where the Tigers have surged to three consecutive Western Division championships and finished runner-up for the overall conference title in 2009.
LSU goes into the match having moved up to No. 18 in the Soccer Times Top 25 Poll. Memphis claimed its first ranking in the NSCAA Top 25 in program history after wins against Saint Louis and Samford, entering at No. 23.
____
Contact Ryan Ginn at [email protected]