SAN ANTONIO—Overtimes are not good for the heart, but they're good for the Northwestern State soccer team.

Freshman Olivia Draguicevich scored in the top left corner three minutes into overtime to give the Lady Demons a 2-1 victory at the University of Incarnate Word.

"I'm proud of the team and how hard they competed," co-head coach Jess Jobe said. "They had to fight for everything and were resilient after the late goal by UIW. These are valuable points we earned today."

It is the team-leading fifth goal of the season for Draguicevich, and this her second overtime winner. Her other one came against UL Lafayette.

It concludes a four-point weekend on the road against two of the top teams in the conference.

NSU (6-6-1 overall, 3-1-1 Southland) has gone into overtime in four of the past six contests, posting a record of 3-0-1 in those four. This is the ninth consecutive match decided by one goal for the Lady Demons, and 10^th in the last 11.

UIW (5-7, 4-1) dropped its first conference match of the season after winning the first four. The two goals by NSU were also the first two allowed by the Cardinals in conference play.

The game started as a defensive struggle, but that all changed in the 10^th minute. Norma Trejo had the ball on the wing and centered it to an open Jalen Donaldson in the center of the box about 10 yards out, who found the back of the net in the lower left corner to put NSU in front quickly.

The assist by Trejo was her first point of the season.

It was the quickest the Lady Demons have scored this season, surpassing Donaldson's goal in the 13^th minute against Louisiana Tech Sept. 1.

Shots were hard to come by for either team in the first half, with NSU taking three of the four shots in the opening 45 minutes, and the Lady Demons took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The Cardinals were on the attack for much of the second half, and the defense and goalkeeper Kayla Bomben stood tall. A shot on a re-direction by UIW's Taylor Husfield was smothered in front of the net by Bomben in the 74^th minute.

UIW evened the score in the 76^th minute on a penalty kick by leading scorer Keeley Ayala, who has is now 5-of-5 on penalty kicks this season.

"We had to keep battling," Jobe said. "They are a really good team, really well-coached. Having experiences in overtime and having been there helped us. It helped us come away with this big, meaningful win."

The Cardinals had a few chances to take the lead, but shot attempts by Eve Clarkson and Brooke Hanson went high and the score remained tied.

The last major opportunity came from the foot of Donaldson. Her shot from the right of the box was saved on a diving stop by UIW goalkeeper Cailey Croson in the 89^th minute, and the game was tied at the end of regulation.

After playing 110 minutes Friday against Abilene Christian, the Lady Demons didn't seem to want to go deep into overtime once again. There was only one shot in the overtime period, and that was by Draguicevich.

The freshman received the ball near the edge of the box on the left side, and turned around and fired a perfectly placed shot into the left corner past Croson to give NSU the win. The assist was by freshman Rachel Brandt, her first career point.

UIW outshot NSU 11-8, and each team had six on goal.

After a 12-save performance against ACU, Bomben made five more in the win.

The Lady Demons return to Natchitoches Friday when they welcome Sam Houston State to the Lady Demon Soccer Complex. The contest begins at 7 p.m.