HAMMOND—There are three things in life that are for certain: death, taxes and nail biter between Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana in women's soccer.

For the seventh consecutive meeting, the total number of goals scored between the two teams is one or fewer, and this one went as a scoreless draw in the Southland Conference road opener for NSU on Sunday afternoon at Strawberry Stadium.

"Those were two hard games for us this weekend," NSU women's soccer coach Stuart Gore said. "We just couldn't break through against SLU today. But a point on the road is better than nothing."

Five of those past seven matchups have finished 1-0, and the other two finished at 0-0 at the end of regulation, including Sunday.

NSU (4-2-2 overall, 1-1-1 SLC) out-shot its opponent (9-3) for the seventh time in eight games this season but was unable to find the back of the net, legally anyway.

In the 20^th minute, Olivia Draguicevich received a terrific pass from Paige Armstrong and Draguicevich's left-footed kick rolled past SLU goalkeeper Olivia Griffin and it into the net. However, Draguicevich was offside and the goal was wiped away.

She wasn't the only one who had a goal taken away due to an offside, though.

On a free kick, SLU (4-2-1, 2-0-1) thought it had broken the ice in the 35^th minute. It was sent to the back post, where it was booted home past Chloe DeShazer, but it was also ruled offside, so the score remained deadlocked.

NSU controlled the first part of the first half, as it held the Lady Lions without a shot for the first 22 minutes. The Lady Demons attempted two shots in that time, including a shot from Gracie Armstrong that hit the football upright, as SLU soccer plays on the same field as the football team.

Like good teams do, though, SLU responded and controlled action in the middle of the half. Perhaps the best opportunity for either team to find the back of the net came in the 23^rd minute off the foot off SLU's Maycie Massingill.

The sophomore for the Lady Lions had a good look from the top right hand corner of the box and shot it to the top left corner of the goal, but DeShazer made one of her three saves, a leaping stop to deflect the ball away.

The shutout was DeShazer's third in four games after earning a pair last weekend against UIW and Jackson State, lowering her goals against average to an impressive 0.75.

Natalee Henry attempted three shots on the afternoon, leading Northwestern State in the category and matching the total for the Lady Lions.

Her final attempt was one of the better chances all game for NSU, attempting a shot from the top right of the box, but her shot sailed just high and left of the goal in the 85^th minute to seal a tie score.

NSU returns to the field Sunday afternoon at conference newcomer Texas A&M-Commerce before returning home for a date with Houston Baptist on Sept. 30.