BATON ROUGE – The reigning SEC Western Division champion LSU Soccer program will host perennial national powers Florida and Texas A&M to highlight a 13-game Southeastern Conference slate for the 2012 regular season that was announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.

 

The Tigers will look to defend their SEC West crown and build upon their second-place finish in the final SEC standings from a year ago against an expanded Southeastern Conference that welcomes the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies from the Big 12 Conference.

 

LSU ended the 2011 campaign with a 13-8-1 overall record and an 8-3 mark with 24 points in league play while claiming its fourth SEC West title and fourth NCAA Tournament berth in five seasons.

 

“The SEC continues to get tougher each and every year. We’re well on our way to becoming the very best soccer conference in the country,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “There is nothing more fun than experiencing an SEC Friday night right here in Baton Rouge, or going on the road to compete in the many other great environments we see in this conference.”

 

The Tigers will open SEC play with a difficult four-game homestand that features four programs claiming a berth into the 2011 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament.

 

LSU will be the first to welcome Texas A&M to the SEC as the sides are set to square off in their opening match in league play at the LSU Soccer Stadium on Friday, Sept. 14. The two teams actually faced one another in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago with the Aggies taking the victory en route to a spot in the second round, where they were knocked out of the postseason by Virginia Tech.

 

Texas A&M joins the SEC in 2012 after establishing itself as the most successful women’s soccer team in the history of the Big 12 Conference. The Aggies secured seven Big 12 regular season championships and five Big 12 Tournament championships in its history, including the 2011 tournament title.

 

After opening the SEC season against the Aggies, the Tigers continue their homestand with games against Alabama on Sunday, Sept. 16, Auburn on Friday, Sept. 21, and Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 23.

 

Auburn advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after claiming the SEC Tournament title a season ago, while both Alabama and Kentucky were eliminated from postseason play with defeats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to wrap up the 2011 campaign.

 

Also highlighting LSU’s home schedule in 2012 is a match against perennial power Florida scheduled for Friday, Oct. 5. The Gators have captured five of the last six SEC regular season titles since 2006 and were qualifiers for the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago.

 

The Tigers are also scheduled to play host to Vanderbilt on Sunday, Oct. 7, and Arkansas in their regular-season finale on Thursday, Oct. 25, in matches that will be played at the LSU Soccer Stadium.

 

Among LSU’s six away fixtures in league play in 2012 are three against NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a year ago, including matches against Georgia in Athens on Sunday, Sept. 30, South Carolina in Columbia for Friday, Oct. 12, and Tennessee in Knoxville for Sunday, Oct. 14. Both the Bulldogs and the Gamecocks advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, while the Lady Volunteers saw their season come to an end in the first round of postseason play.

 

The Tigers will also go on the road to face Mississippi State on Friday, Sept. 28, Ole Miss on Friday, Oct. 19, and Missouri on Sunday, Oct. 21. Missouri joins the SEC this season following a successful run in the Big 12 Conference as it claimed back-to-back Big 12 regular season titles in 2008 and 2009.