NATCHITOCHES – For the second time in as many seasons, Northwestern State's Brittany Caserma made an offensive impact in an eerily similar way.
Caserma scored two goals in a 3-1 win against Incarnate Word on Friday.
Caserma's goals came just a minute-and-a-half apart, much like her goals at UIW this past season in which she scored a pair of goals less than three minutes apart.
"I didn't think 1-0 was a score in which we could settle, so we went out there to put (UIW) under in the second half, "We had a lot of great balls, good through balls, and we ended up putting shots in the back of the net.
"It's really exciting and relieving to see us score goals tonight after we've come up a short on offense a lot in the past three (Southland Conference) games. We wanted to come out with a win on our home turf, and these three points mean a lot to us."
NSU (7-5, 1-3 SLC) won its first conference game of the season while handing UIW (1-6-1, 1-1-1 SLC) its first league loss.
Caserma helped build NSU's lead in the 51st minute when she deflected a Kylee Dominy pass into the net from close range.
The Murrieta, California, native all but put the game away less than two minutes later when she beat UIW keeper Katrina Buck in a one-on-one situation after a through ball from fellow senior April Trowbridge.
Caserma has six goals on the season, two shy of her career-high eight goals in 2017.
"I'm pleased about this one, and you can't take three points in this conference for granted," said NSU co-head coach Jess Jobe. "UIW works really hard and made things difficult for us tonight, and we had to be sharp in some areas.
"After we scored the first goal, UIW grew back into this game. But we played really well at the start of the second half and played with a cushion."
Trowbridge started the scoring with her 11th goal of the season when she beat a UIW defender near the top of the box for an unassisted goal.
The tally was NSU's first goal in conference play (fourth match) despite the Lady Demons ranking in the top 10 in goals scored entering the weekend.
The defense held up its end by allowing just four shots, including a late UIW goal by Sabrina Martineau in the 85th minute. NSU's offense took 22 shots and outmatched UIW in corner kicks 8-1.
"We've been working really hard on limiting opponents' chances because have fewer goals scored against you that way," said sophomore defensive midfielder Alexis Weaver. "It creates more opportunities for our forwards, too.
"Our one downfall this season has been allowing goal on just a couple of shots. As long as we limit those, we can have success going forward."
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kayla Bomben (6-5) improved her mark by making one save, but it was plays that didn't show up in the box score that held off the Cardinals until late.
Bomben made a sliding tackle well out of the box in the first half to prevent a breakaway situation. A diving save in the second half off a corner kick kept UIW from clawing back into the game as well.
NSU continues its home weekend Sunday when they welcome Abilene Christian for a 1 p.m. match.
