Soccer takes on LSU with tournament on the line

BATON ROUGE, La. – With its postseason hopes hanging in the balance the University of Arkansas Lady Razorback soccer team heads to Baton Rouge, La., to take on the LSU Tigers on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m.

The game, which has typically been the final regular season contest of the year, has determined the final seed at the Southeastern Conference Tournament the past three seasons and the 2006 match makes it four straight. The Lady Razorbacks need a tie or a win to keep its postseason hopes alive heading into their Sunday makeup match with Kentucky while LSU gets set to play its final game of the regular season and needs a win if it hopes to continue its season at the SEC Championships.

“This is a must win game for them and we need a minimum of a tie,” Arkansas head coach Gordon Henderson said. “Seven or eight teams in the conference need a win to qualify for the SEC Tournament, which just goes to show how tough the conference is this season. I think that the attitude of this team is completely different from past seasons and they truly believe that they can play with anyone.”

An even series over the 11 career meetings, each school has picked up five wins against its opponent, but LSU has had the upper hand over the past three seasons with a trio of wins including two in Fayetteville. Last season, Arkansas and LSU played a wild contest that was scoreless for the opening 45 minutes but saw a combined seven goals scored over the final 45 as LSU upset Arkansas on senior night, 4-3.

A Lady Razorback victory on Friday would knock the Tigers out of postseason consideration and put it into a potential tie with the eighth-place seed in the tournament. Arkansas would then have to defeat a tough Kentucky team at home on Sunday afternoon to advance to the SEC Tournament for the first time since the 2000 season.

For Arkansas to be successful in Baton Rouge, it will need to once again play solid defense and gets its offense geared up. The Lady Razorbacks have scored just one goal over its past three matches which have all gone into double overtime. Conceding just two goals over that same stretch, Arkansas tied both Auburn and South Carolina, but lost to #15 Florida in the third contest.

For more information about Lady Razorback soccer or about Arkansas women’s athletics, please go to LADYBACKS.COM.