 "Photo: Celsio Gonzalez")
Texas Soccer Coach Chris Petrucelli rated his team's performance against Rice on Sunday as "below average."
The Longhorns lost that game 1-0 on the road but have a chance to redeem themselves tonight when they play at Louisiana State University.
"Our attitude is just to come out and absolutely demolish the other team," Texas co-captain Stephanie Logterman said. "It's frustrating to lose, and it shows your character when you can come out and really get a good win after a loss."
Texas holds a 3-2 record overall this season, while the Tigers' season mark stands at 3-3. LSU is coming off a loss to Villanova in double overtime on Sunday night.
Tigers fans are expected to come out in full force when the No. 14 ranked Texas squad takes the field in Baton Rouge. The game marks just the second time that LSU has hosted a ranked non-conference in the program's 11-year history.
Although its confidence may be shaken a bit, Texas should have a strong outing, both offensively and defensively against unranked LSU.
"I definitely think the loss opened our eyes," senior forward Amy Burlingham said. "We just need to refocus on some things. We need to finish off more of our scoring opportunities and shut out teams that we know we can."
Consistent offensive production may not be the Longhorns only focus tonight. Petrucelli said his team must also improve its road mentality and compete at a high level for an entire game.
"We just have to have a better effort especially early in the game," Petrucelli said. "We can't decide to start playing once we go down a goal."
Sluggish starts aside, Texas should hold the edge in big game experience. LSU's leading goal scorer, freshman forward Michelle Makasini, also leads the SEC with an impressive four goals.
With that in mind, LSU head coach Brian Lee faces a difficult task of trying to contain the explosive Longhorns. For the Tigers, tonight's game has much the same feel as the Penn-State-Texas clash at the beginning of September. Both games have a highly ranked non-conference opponent playing on the road against an underdog.
"Texas' record is deceiving, because they've played one of the toughest schedules in the country to this point," Lee told LSUsports.net. "They lost to Auburn, who is in everyone's Top 25, to open the season and got some big results against Penn State and Illinois. This is a great opportunity for our team to build an NCAA Tournament resume with a win against a team like Texas."
Texas built up its resume with crucial home wins. But Longhorn soccer fans only hope tonight's underdog won't come out on top.
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