NATCHITOCHES -- Despite the statistics leaning heavily in Northwestern State's favor, the Lady Demons couldn't find the back of the net Friday in a 1-0 loss to Stephen F. Austin at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.
 
NSU (5-3, 0-1 Southland Conference) opened league play by outshooting traditional power SFA (3-3, 1-0 SLC) 18-4.
 
Just one Ladyjacks shot was on target, but it's the shot that ultimately decided the game.
 
SFA's Katelyn Termini sent a shot from the top of the box into the top left-hand corner in the 69^th minute.
 
"We lost to a good team tonight, and SFA is well organized with good pieces," said NSU co-head coach Jess Jobe. "But we went into the game expecting to win, and we gave ourselves a lot of chances to do just that tonight.
 
"We've been waiting to see what conference play would be like, and we were very happy to face one of the strongest teams historically to start to see where we match up. I think tonight, we proved we were ready for it and ready to compete."
 
NSU had a 3-1 edge in corner kicks as the Lady Demons challenged the SFA defense for the majority of the night.
 
In the first half, NSU outshot SFA 6-1 as the Lady Demons dominated possession.
 
SFA changed formations and approximately split possession early in the second half, but NSU sent a barrage of shots late in search for an equalizer as the Lady Demons owned a 12-3 edge in shots.
 
A couple of late opportunities seemed promising, including a series in which freshman Kiara Padilla attempted two shots from in the box that sandwiched a Norma Trejo rebound attempt.
 
But SFA's defense stood tall as goal keeper Maddie Talbot made six saves with another Ladyjacks team save.
 
"Late in the game, we had a couple of chances we thought might hit the back of the night, but SFA scrapped it out and kept working hard," Jobe said. "We worked on a couple of specific pieces to work through our center forward more, and (Brittany Caserma) played with her back to goal, laying it off and combining with other players.
 
"I thought April Trowbridge was the most dangerous player on the field for either side as she found her way out of tough situations to put balls in the box. I know what this meant to our team and how much we wanted, and they were willing to put everything on the line."
Junior midfielder Jayden Wheeler had a team-high four shots (two on goal), two of Trowbridge's three shots were on target and Caserma attempted three shots.
 
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kayla Bomben fell to 4-3 on the season as she directed a backline that held SFA to four attempts.
 
"Overall our defense played really well," Jobe said. "We had to be organized against an SFA team that has a mixture of playing to feet and playing direct, so we had to read the cues, and we did. We gave them a good look in that moment, and (Termini) struck the ball really well (on SFA's goal)."
 
NSU remains winless against SFA since 2002, but Jobe and the Lady Demons believe they've taken a huge step in preparing for the rest of conference play.

The Lady Demons finish its five-game home stand Sunday at 5 p.m. against NAIA-member LSU-Alexandria at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.