by Will Stafford, Associate Sports Information Director
BATON ROUGE -- The 2009 postseason is set to begin Wednesday as the 16th-ranked and No. 2-seeded LSU soccer team travels to the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala., to take on the No. 7 seed Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the 2009 SEC Tournament with kickoff slated for noon CT.
The Tigers (12-4-3, 8-2-1 SEC) will compete as the No. 2 seed for the second-straight season after setting a new program record with eight wins and 25 points in SEC play this fall.
LSU is the three-time defending SEC Western Division champion after capturing its third-straight title on Friday night with a dominating 4-1 win over the Arkansas in its regular season finale in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Commodores (11-7-1, 5-6 SEC) are on fire as they enter the first round of the SEC Tournament on an impressive four-game winning streak in conference play that includes four-straight shutouts. They haven’t allowed a goal in exactly 390 minutes of game action.
It took overtime to determine the winner of the regular season fixture between the two sides as LSU came out on top with a 2-1 victory against Vanderbilt in Nashville back on Oct. 11. LSU’s senior All-American Malorie Rutledge scored the game-winner with just 28 seconds remaining in the first overtime period.
“Vanderbilt is a very good and very confident team right now having won four in a row, and I’m sure that they will come to Orange Beach with the intent on solidifying their spot in the NCAA Tournament,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We feel like they are very deserving of an NCAA bid and will get one when the field is announced next week. They were very tough for us to play in the regular season, and it speaks to the strength of this conference to have the opportunity to play a team like Vanderbilt in the first round.”
The Tigers have advanced to the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament in each of the last two years and will look to qualify for the final for the first time in program history.
The Florida Gators captured their fourth-straight SEC regular season championship and are the No. 1 seed this week. Ole Miss will compete as the No. 3 seed, while No. 4 seed South Carolina, No. 5 seed Georgia, No. 6 seed Auburn and No. 8 seed Tennessee round out this year’s tournament field.
LSU carries a four-game unbeaten streak against the Commodores into Wednesday’s opening round game as it has not dropped a match in the series since the 2005 regular season.
Rutledge leads the LSU attack once again this season as she was honored as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row Tuesday. Rutledge, who also earned a First-Team All-SEC selection for the third-straight season, is the team’s leading scorer once again in 2009 with nine goals and 11 assists for 29 points. She also enters Wednesday’s action as the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
Four other Tigers also received all-conference accolades Tuesday as senior defender Chelsea Potts earned first-team honors, while senior midfielder Melissa Clarke and sophomore midfielder Allysha Chapman each earned a second-team selection. In addition, freshman striker Carlie Banks was selected as a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team for her performance this fall.
The match featuring LSU and Vanderbilt is available for live streaming free on the SEC’s official website at SECsports.com. Live stats will also be available online through LSUsports.net.
The winner of Wednesday’s opening round match between the Tigers and Commodores will advance to the semifinal round on Friday and take on either No. 3 seed Ole Miss or No. 6 seed Auburn in a match set to kick off at 5 p.m. CT. The final match of this year’s SEC Tournament is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m.
