LAKE CHARLES—McNeese scored a goal in the sixth minute and never looked back, as Northwestern State fell 2-0 on the road Friday evening in a Southland Conference contest at Cowgirl Field.

NSU (4-10 overall, 2-5 SLC) wrapped up a stretch of three consecutive road matches, dropping its fifth straight game by a combined seven goals, playing right with the competition in every game.

"I thought we played well, and we were in control of the action and we created good chances to score, but just didn't take advantage of them," first-year head coach Ian Brophy said. "McNeese only had two shots on goal, but they took advantage of their opportunities. It was kind of the same story as last game."

Kaile Kukaua scored for McNeese on a header in the box off a cross from Martine Ellefsen. Kukaua received the pass and scored on a header 5:16 into the game, going top right corner of the goal past a leaping NSU goalkeeper Libe Banuelos.

McNeese (7-5-2, 4-1-1) tacked on a goal in the 82^nd minute on a tally from Alexis Theiler from the right side of the box, going top left corner of the frame to double the lead, cementing its fourth conference match victory of the season.

The assist was credited to Magalie Dépôt.

NSU won the shots battle 13-7, including 9-2 in shots on goal, but the Cowgirls converted both shots on frame into goals.

Following McNeese's first goal of the contest, the Lady Demons responded with eight shots in the first half, but McNeese goalkeeper Jackie Kelly recorded six of her nine saves in the opening 45 minutes to keep NSU off the board.

"Last time we played them, we only had like five shots and two on goal," Brophy said. "Our goal coming in was to create more meaningful chances, so for us to see 13 shots and nine on goal was really nice. But sometimes when they ball isn't dropping for you, momentum goes the other way, and I thought we were a bit unlucky."

In the 11^th minute, Emme' Fernandez attempted a shot on a free kick that was saved by Kelly and he rebound bounced out to Jessica Spitzer, whose shot was blocked.

Coming in off the bench, Riley Stern provided even more of a spark for the Lady Demons. She recorded two shots in as many minutes late in the first half, forcing Kelly to make two impressive saves.

In the 41^st minute, she fired a rocket from the top of the box and one minute later, she attempted one from the top left corner of the box.

"Riley came off the bench and made a big impact," Brophy said. "She took advantage of her opportunity and settled the team down right away and allowed us to retain possession in the forward areas, which I thought was really positive. We were challenging her to be a bit more dangerous and she created a couple really good chances."

McNeese's best opportunity to score outside of the two goals came early in the second half off the head of Morgan Schooley. She attempted a header off a corner kick, but the shot sailed just wide right of the net.

Schooley recorded a team-high two shots of the seven the Cowgirls attempted.

Sabrina Lopez sent in one of her game-high three shot attempts in the 63^rd minute, but her shot was stopped by Kelly. The opportunity was perhaps the best chance for the Lady Demons in the second half.

In addition to Lopez's three, four NSU players—Stern, Fernandez, Jessica Spitzer and Emily Senatore—all attempted two shots.

NSU had a chance to tie the contest with a corner in the 81^st minute, but an offsides wiped away the opportunity and McNeese responded with a counter attack, which led to Theiler's sealing goal.

The Lady Demons return home for the first time in October on Sunday when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.