CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Northwestern State built its success this season on winning one-goal matches, but the No. 3 seed Lady Demons couldn't find their late-game magic Wednesday as they fell to No. 6 McNeese 1-0 in overtime in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
McNeese's Dayna Garcia found the back of the net four minutes into the first overtime to end NSU's run in the SLC Tournament -- the Lady Demons' (10-8-1) first postseason appearance since 2008.
Garcia, who stood in the corner about 10 yards away from the net, slotted a shot past NSU goalkeeper Alex Latham for the game-winning goal. Garcia received a pass after defender Patry Carrion blocked an initial shot for the match's only goal.
Entering the tournament, NSU recorded a 6-2 record against SLC opponents in one-goal matches, including a 2-1 win at McNeese in the regular season.
"The defense has been great all year, it's just unfortunate the way it ended," said NSU coach George Van Linder, despite the coaching staff protesting a potential offsides on the goal. "We played well on the back end in keeping McNeese out of the goal (in regulation), and our attacking players want to be in a situation where they can score goals so it doesn't have to be so close for the defending players.
"We had a lot of good chances, and it's one of those things like in basketball where sometimes you're hitting your shots, and sometimes you aren't. And we weren't today. We had a lot of great chances to put this game away, and we didn't. I'm really proud of the fight and effort, and they took the loss hard today."
NSU's best chance came with less than 10 seconds in regulation. Sophomore April Trowbridge curved a shot just wide of the far post after a Cache' Haley pass set her up from about 10 yards.
"Honestly, I knew my shot was going to miss just wide when I hit it," said Trowbridge, who received a plaque for her Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year award along with NSU's three all-conference players. "I was hoping somebody could get on the other end of it.
"We took away that you definitely have to do the little things, like keep playing if the refs don't make a call."
The Lady Demons had several other quality chances on a night in which they took just four total shots. Senior Peyton Rector's cross barely missed a charging Cache' Haley in overtime, representing NSU's best opportunity after regulation.
But McNeese (9-9-1) possessed the ball for the vast majority of the game, taking 19 total shots with six on goal.
"Our backline stayed together well, and they had a lot of stuff outside of the box," said Carrion, a first-team all-conference defender. "They had a couple of chances, but I thought they didn't have a lot of chances to score even though they took more shots.
"We had some bad luck, and hopefully this team will learn from this experience for next season."
McNeese missed quality chances in regulation as well, including a rebound header on an open net that sailed high. The Cowgirls had four shots just over the crossbar.
Latham made five saves in the loss with winning keeper Annie Bravenec saving one shot, an Olivia Marazzo attempt in the first half.
The Lady Demons made visible strides in Van Linder's fifth season, winning the most total games (10) since 2009 and the most conference games (7) since 2004.
