MARTINEAU’S TWO GOALS LEAD LSU TO 2-0 ROAD SHUTOUT AT KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior
midfielder and Natalie Martineau scored both goals for the Tigers with
her first career multi-goal game to lead the 14th-ranked LSU soccer
team to a key 2-0 shutout of the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday afternoon
at the UK Soccer Complex as the squad held its lead atop the SEC table. Martineau
scored the breakthrough for the Tigers with little more than three
minutes to go in the first half on a class sequence with junior
midfielder Natalie Ieyoub in the 42nd minute of play. Ieyoub
led the attack down the center of the pitch before playing a diagonal
through the Kentucky defense to Martineau wide open in the right side
of the area. Martineau then dribbled around Kentucky goalkeeper Kayla
Price and buried a strike from just beyond the six-yard box to give LSU
the 1-0 lead before the half with her second goal of the season at the
41:47 mark of the opening frame. With the Wildcats
pressuring for the equalizer well into the second half, Martineau
pushed the lead to 2-0 with her second goal of the match and third goal
of the season in the 67th minute on LSU’s first true attack of the
period while combining with fellow senior and Canadian international
Taryne Boudreau. After Boudreau ran onto a square ball
from junior Carlie Banks in the middle of the pitch, she turned back
and slotted a diagonal ball through the Wildcats back line to Martineau
again running free in the right side of the area. Martineau took one
touch and fired a 10-yard strike inside the far post for the 2-0 lead. Martineau,
who has also dished out a career-high eight assists on the campaign,
has proven herself among the SEC’s elite scoring threats this season
with a career high 14 points on the campaign. “We knew
coming in that this was a big game for our team with what we want to
accomplish. We needed three points today, and I’m proud for the way we
competed today to get a big win on the road,” Martineau said. “We talk
a lot as a team about playing the kind of soccer we play at home on the
road. I think we did that today. Kentucky is a really good team, and we
knew they would keep fighting to the very end.” The Tigers
(10-4-1, 5-1 SEC) rebounded from Friday’s 2-1 double overtime setback
at Vanderbilt to pick up their seventh win in eight matches and remain
in first place atop the SEC table with 15 points. The
Tigers also picked up their second-straight win over the Wildcats
(10-4, 3-3), while improving to 4-1-2 against their SEC East rivals
since 2005 in the tenure of seventh-year head coach Brian Lee. The
victory also marked LSU’s first win over Kentucky in program history in
Lexington. “I’m proud of this team in how we responded
after a disappointing performance Friday night,” Lee said at the end of
the match, “We have to give this kind of effort as a team when we go on
the road and try to win games in the SEC. It is always a challenge any
time you go on the road in this league and get three points, especially
against a team like Kentucky that plays very well at home. “We’ll
certainly need that same kind of effort on Friday night when we go back
on the road to face a very good Auburn team that is also competing for
an SEC championship.” Senior goalkeeper Mo Isom made three
big saves on the afternoon to record her fifth shutout of the season
and 27th clean sheet of her career as she continues her ascent to the
top of the SEC record books. Isom has moved into a tie for the No. 5
spot on the SEC’s career list for shutouts with former Arkansas
Razorbacks goalkeeper Britni Williams. Auburn’s Megan Rivera owns the
all-time record with 33 career shutouts. Sophomore
defender Alex Ramsey came up with the defensive play of the game with
under three minutes to play in regulation on one of Kentucky’s corner
kicks late in the match. Wildcat defender Arin Gilliland fired an open
shot from about eight yards out that appeared destined for the back of
the net inside the right post that would have pulled Kentucky to within
one goal in the dying minutes. But Ramsey held her
position near the post and headed the ball back out of the box to
preserve the shutout and help LSU secure the 2-0 win over one of the
SEC’s hottest clubs. The Tigers continue their four-game
road swing next weekend with a trip through the state of Alabama as
they take on the Auburn Tigers on Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Auburn
Soccer Complex and the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. at the
Alabama Soccer Stadium.
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