Box Score SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Three goals before the 15-minute mark, two by Sarah Flores, gave Incarnate Word an early lead on its way to a 5-0 win over the Northwestern State women's soccer team Friday night in Southland Conference action.
 
"It was senior night and [the Cardinals] coach Tina Patterson, a legend coaching for 20 years, announced her retirement," said head coach George Van Liner. 
 
"They came out motivated, and everything they hit went in during the first 15 minutes," he said. "It was about as painful as it gets for the team. [Northwestern State] will play with a lot of pride Sunday and hope that is enough to get us in (the Southland Conference Tournament)."
 
Northwestern State fell to 6-11-1 overall with a 4-6-1 record.
 
Flores put the Cardinals (10-6-2, 4-5-2 Southland Conference) on the board in the fifth minute on a pass from Sydney Solomon. She also scored in the 12th minute on a corner kick from Katie Miller.
 
In the 10th minute, Amanda Watkins scored on a pass from the right side by Abigail Koenigs.
 
The score remained 3-0 until the 62nd minute when Solomon scored an unassisted goal after she cut back against the defense and had her shot deflect off a defender.
 
Ashley Crabbe scored the final score of the game on a header that was crossed by Kathryn Mundy.
 
"We had some good chances, but they had good goals," said Van Linder.
 
Brooke Eastburg led the Lady Demon in shots with five and three were on-goal. Cassandra Briscoe with followed her two shots.
 
As a team, the Lady Demons had 10 shots and six on-goal.  They were outshot by UIW who had 16 shots and eight on-goal.
 
Heather Kowalik played the entire match between the pipes for UIW.  She collected six saves in her shutout.
 
NSU is currently in eighth place in the SLC standings, and only the top six teams in the standings get in the league tourney.
 
Because seventh-place Lamar has no more games left to play this season, it has been eliminated from contention.
 
Sam Houston has 18 points, Nicholls has 16, Central Arkansas has 15, and Northwestern State has 13.  For the Lady Demons to get into the tournament, they must beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday and have help from one of two games.
 
If Sam Houston, who locked a spot in the tournament Friday night, beats Nicholls or McNeese beats Central Arkansas, Northwestern State will secure a spot in the league tournament.
 
If SHSU beats Nicholls, it will tie the Lady Demons in points, and the tie-breaker goes to Northwestern State because of the head-to-head win.
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi goes into the game ranked 13th in the conference standings.  The Lady Demons will take them on at 1 o'clock in Corpus Christi, Texas.