2013 The End of the Road for LSU's Megan Kinneman

by Becky

As the school year comes to an end it is time to start preparing for the upcoming seasons and SEC sports that will kick off the new school year. Soccer will be coming before we know it and it is time to put focus on upcoming senior goalkeeper Megan Kinneman. Megan has had a strong career with the LSU Tigers and is approaching the end of the road.

It is hard to imagine Megan trading in her beloved goalie jerseys in exchange for business suits and pumps. But before that happens she has one more season to go and hopefully for the sake of the Tigers she goes out the same way she started.

In 2010, Megan started her run with LSU and showed promise from the beginning. In that season she started every game for the Tigers, playing 1,362 minutes at goal. In those games she allowed only 10 goals earning herself a place on the SEC All-Tournament Team as well as an honorable mention from the Sports Writers Association in their All-Louisiana selection. That year she helped her team make it to the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament for the 4th consecutive season. In that round she had 9 saves, a career high at that point.

Megan's junior wasn't quite as pivotal with only 3 starts her sophomore and 5 total appearances. She did help her team to clinch their 4th SEC Western Division championship as well as aided them to their runner up finish in the final SEC standings. Her stats weren't quite as good and it seemed that she was not going to live up to the potential she showed during her freshman year.

In 2012, Megan came back strong and proved herself to be one of the best goalies in the conference. She played every minute of every game which in its own is impressive. She ended her career with 117 saves and allowed only 27 goals out of 366 attempts. LSU went on to finish the season with a meager 9-8-4 record, but of those 9 wins Megan played a big part in them being shutouts.

One of the highlights of the season was taking the LSU record for all-time leading scorers, at least as far as goalies are concerned. Again the Sports Writers Association named her as honorable mention for the All-Louisiana Team. Finally, but potentially most importantly Megan was recognized for her leadership in the community as a part of the SEC Community Service Team.

So what's next for Megan? Well hopefully another stellar season. It may be hard to beat her personal record as most goals scored by a goal keeper, as well as it may not seem possible that she play every minute for a second straight season. But what she can do is provide the team with leadership especially with at least 4 freshmen joining the roster. Megan has proven that she has the ability to rise to the occasion.

Thus far Megan has seen success on and off the field. She has been named to SEC Academic Honor Roll for two consecutive years, which makes it seem that this young lady has the will and determination to find success in whatever it is she pursues. Come graduation Megan will join other alumni's and cheer from the sidelines, but with a degree in Sports Administration, I find it hard to believe she stray very far from LSU Soccer.