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ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The SEC Tournament championship will be on the line Sunday afternoon when the No. 2-seeded LSU soccer team battles No. 4-seeded South Carolina at 2 p.m. CT at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in a nationally-televised match on ESPNU.

This marks the first appearance in the SEC Tournament finals for both clubs as each earned a 1-0 shutout in their respective semifinal matches on Friday night. The Tigers (14-4-3) blanked No. 6 seed Auburn and the Gamecocks (17-3-1) upset No. 1 seed Florida in the semifinal round.

LSU defeated South Carolina by a score of 1-0 at the LSU Soccer Complex in Baton Rouge on Oct. 25 in a match that was also broadcast as part of ESPNU’s coverage of the SEC.

The Tigers carry a three-game unbeaten streak against the Gamecocks into the SEC Tournament final and look to tie a program record for a single season with their 15th win of the campaign.

“It’s exciting to finally break through and advance to the tournament final for the first time. I’m proud of the way our team has competed to this point,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “Now we have a chance to compete for a championship tomorrow afternoon against a very good South Carolina team. They have one of the best teams in the country, and certainly showed that in their win over Florida last night.

“We will be playing our third game in five days, and that is always a challenge in itself. But we are happy with our depth at this point in the season. It’s sure to be an exciting championship match.”

Senior Malorie Rutledge was the hero in LSU’s win over Auburn on Friday night as she scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute of play for the 1-0 victory. Rutledge is now tied with fellow senior striker Melissa Clarke for the team lead with a career-high 10 goals this season.

Rutledge has been named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, while she has also earned three-straight First-Team All-SEC honors. The Hermann Trophy candidate has shown the form that earned her consensus All-America honors a season ago.

Rutledge has helped lead a senior class that has reached unprecedented heights in its four seasons at LSU while winning three-straight SEC Western Division crowns and consecutive NCAA Tournament bids.

With a win against the Gamecocks on Sunday, LSU’s senior class would reach yet another milestone with its 50th win since taking the field for the first time in 2006. In four seasons, the Tigers have recorded a 49-21-15 overall record for an impressive .665 winning percentage. That includes a 27-12-11 record between SEC opponents in both the regular season and SEC Tournament.

LSU is a perfect 2-0 in nationally-televised games on ESPNU this season as it also earned a 2-0 blanking of Auburn at the Auburn Soccer Complex on Oct. 4 along with its 1-0 shutout of South Carolina.

As part of the pregame activities, the Panhandle Bayou Bengals LSU Alumni Chapter will host a Pregame Tailgate Brunch on Sunday at 10:45 a.m. CT at Lester’s Restaurant in Orange Beach. All LSU Tiger fans are invited to come and enjoy the fun prior to Sunday’s kickoff at 2 p.m.