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Kentucky opened the scoring in the 2015 SEC Soccer Tournament in the 24th minute when Cara Leman pitched a perfect cross to Tanya Samarzich, who dove to head it home. It was well defended, but the placement was too good to stop.
Down a half with their season on the line, LSU...did nothing. The Tigers remained cool and level headed, resisting mass subs, instead opting to only using Lexi Gibbs to spell players, which payed off well. Things immediately fell for the Tigers after half in the form of, shocker, a Natalia Gomez-Junco free kick from 30 yards out.
Gabrielle Maldonado scored the deciding goal in the 54th minute when she tapped in a corner to far post from Gomez-Junco that went untouched across the face of goal. The Tigers then did an excellent job at strangling the life out of Kentucky while keeping the threat of depositing a third goal. Lexi Gibbs probably deserved a goal that she could not find, but otherwise had a huge impact in the game usually reserved for Jorian Baucom and Summer Clarke, dominating the final third when she was on and keeping the Kentucky back line rolling back.
LSU's form is now WWTWW, which is excellent timing for a team that's trying to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers take on Missouri, who had a bye in the Tournament, on Wednesday at noon. The match can be watched on your lunch break on the SEC Network and Watch ESPN.