Senior midfielder and Natalie Martineau scored both goals for the Tigers with her first career multi-goal game to lead the 14^th-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 42^nd minute of play.

Ieyoub led the attack down the center of the pitch before playing a diagonal ball 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 67^th 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 27^th 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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