THIBODAUX—A trifecta of second half goals turned a close halftime score into a comfortable win, as the Northwestern State soccer team had a dominant 4-0 win at Nicholls Friday at the Nicholls Soccer Complex.

Freshman Maddie Scott and sophomore Jalen Donaldson scored eight minutes apart in the second half to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-0 match. Due to inclement weather, the game was moved up an hour, starting at 3 p.m., instead of the original 4 p.m. kickoff time.

"I am pleased with the performance," co-head coach Jess Jobe said. "Any time you can go on the road and get three points is nice, especially considering the conditions."

Three Lady Demons scored their first goals of the season, and two scored the first in their career. Freshman Olivia Mattsson scored in the 11^th minute on a penalty kick for her first career goal, and Scott scored her's off an assist from reigning Defensive Player of the Week in the conference Kalee Williams.

NSU (9-7-1 overall, 6-2-1 Southland) keeps pace with the other six teams fighting at the top of the conference standings. The four goals were the most scored this season, and most in a conference match since Oct. 23, 2016, against Southeastern Louisiana, when they also won 4-0. It is the most in a road conference contest since scoring seven at Nicholls in a 7-2 victory Oct. 19, 2008.

The Lady Demons attempted 31 shots in the contest, with 16 being on net, the most in each category in a conference game since at least 2011.

Nicholls (3-12-1, 0-9) has now lost 12 consecutive conference matches, including all nine this season. In those nine, it has been outscored 39-2.

The Lady Demons jumped out of the gate strong, firing in four shots in first eight and a half minutes, but Roosa Hurmerinta made a pair of saves to keep it scoreless. That was until Nicholls committed a foul in the box on Donaldson. Mattsson took the penalty kick and put one in the back of the net for the first time in her career. The kick made it 1-0 and NSU never looked back.

"It has been a longtime coming for Olivia," Jobe said. "She has been unlucky, so it was nice to see her get the monkey off her back and get a goal."

NSU kept the pressure on, but to no avail in the first half. The Lady Demons shot it 11 times in the first half, but Hurmerinta kept it close, as the score was 1-0 through 45.

The Lady Demons knew if it kept attacking, eventually the shots became goals. There were 13 shots in the first 24 minutes of the second half by NSU, and two found their way through. First, it was Scott in the 56^th minute on a pass by Williams. It is Scott's first career goal.

Eight minutes after Scott's goal, Donaldson found the back of the net on a pass from Alexis Weaver. This is Donaldson's fourth goal of the season, and the sophomore tied Olivia Draguicevich for the team lead with 10 points. The assist by Weaver is the junior's first point of 2019.

In the second half, Donaldson was everywhere. All eight of her shots came in the final 45 minutes, and was wreaking havoc in the Nicholls defense.

"Jalen had a great week of practice," Jobe said. "She had a great mentality all week and she carried confidence from last Sunday into the game today. She played great and Nicholls struggled to find an answer for her."

With her six shots on goal, she moved into 10^th in school history for most shots on goal in a single season.

To cap off the emphatic victory, it was a senior who finished the scoring. Jayden Wheeler scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Samantha Hanking.

"Jayden had a great game," Jobe said. "She was doing a lot of the dirty work, especially in the first half. Jayden was a huge part of our success and it was nice to see her rewarded."

Aydogmus stopped the only shot she was forced to, making a save in the closing minutes to preserve the shutout. It is her third shutout of the season, which moves her into a tie 11^th all-time in career shutouts in NSU history. She is also 10^th in NSU history with three in a single season as well.

NSU outshot Nicholls 31-5, including 16-1 on goal.

The Lady Demons head to Hammond for the final road match of the regular season Sunday against Southeastern Louisiana. The contest is at 1 p.m. NSU wraps up the regular season next Friday against defending regular season champion Central Arkansas.