NATCHITOCHES -- The Northwestern State soccer team went toe-to-toe with reigning Southland Conference regular season champions Stephen F. Austin on Friday, but the toe of SFA's Breanna Moore made the difference in the 1-0 Lady Demons' loss.
 
NSU defender Patry Carrion tracked down a Moore shot, deflecting it away from goal for a team save in the 70^th minute in front of crowd of 472 at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.
 
But Moore followed her shot and slid as she poked a shot past outstretched NSU goalkeeper Alex Latham for the game's only goal and Moore's first goal this season.
 
The Lady Demons (3-5, 0-1 SLC) possessed the ball evenly with SFA (4-2, 1-0 SLC) in the first half, and NSU's defense held up for the majority of the second half as the Ladyjacks outshot the Lady Demons 14-4 after halftime.
 
"It's always a rivalry with these two schools in all sports, and it certainly was tonight," said NSU coach George Van Linder. "They capitalized on their opportunity in the second half, and we missed some of our chances.
 
"We feel like we competed well, and we feel that there were times we had SFA on the ropes, but SFA had us on the ropes as well. There are no moral victories for our team, but we certainly felt like we held our own tonight."
 
On the strength of its second half, SFA held a 20-10 edge in shots and an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Latham made six saves in the loss, falling to 3-5 as a keeper.
 
SFA's Lillie Ehlert made four saves in the shutout, the third for the Ladyjacks this season. NSU has been held scoreless in four games this season.
 
NSU created multiple opportunities with crosses just missing an attacking player in the box, and Van Linder said connecting on those plays will be key going forward.
 
"We did see things offensively that we can build on after making pretty significant changes since the beginning of the season," Van Linder said. "We're still sharpening those things, but we're excited to create those chances tonight.
 
"Creating chances is half the battle, now we just need to finish them."
 
Senior Camila Ardila, junior Esdeina Gonzalez and sophomore Brittany Caserma each took a team-high two shots with Ardila, Gonzalez, sophomore Jacqueline Manza and freshman Jordy Warren attempting a shot on goal.
 
The 1-0 loss comes on the heels of a tie this past season at SFA, the first point NSU has scored in the conference standings against the Ladyjacks since 2008.
 
NSU returns to action Sept. 23 when the Lady Demons travel to Lamar.