NATCHITOCHES—Everyone remembers the first time they found the back of the net as a collegiate.

That moment came to fruition for both Halee Griffin and Emily Senatore on Sunday, as they were the goal scorers for the Northwestern State soccer team in a 2-0 Southland Conference home victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

NSU (5-10 overall, 3-5 SLC) snapped a five-match losing streak with a dominant performance in which it recorded 22 shot attempts, the most it has attempted this season in a single game.

In doing so, the Lady Demons also put an end to the Islanders (7-6-3, 4-3-1) three-game winning streak.

"I felt like we controlled the action and dominated the game," first-year head coach Ian Brophy said. "It felt really good to get two goals on the board and get a win at home. We certainly like playing at home, so that helped for sure."

Griffin, who missed the previous three games, was ready when her name was called.

Griffin will be one of three players who will be honored on Senior Day and made an instant impact after coming in during the 37^th minute.

In the final minute of the first half, Madison Murphy passed the ball deep in the middle of the box to Emily Gundin, who tapped it to Griffin. Griffin whipped around from the lower right of the box and fired it in that was deflected by TAMUCC goalkeeper Zoe Theriot, but it had enough steam to still bounce by her and into the back of the net in the bottom right corner of the goal.

"It feels great to score my first goal," Griffin said. "One of the things that you have to focus on being a Division I college athlete is the grind. It's a lot of work, both mentally and physically. It feels good seeing all that work pay off by scoring my first goal in college."

Both Murphy and Gundin were credited with assists. It is Gundin's team-leading third helper of the season and Murphy's first point of 2023.

NSU dominated the first half, leading in shots 12-3, and finally NSU broke through in the final minute after creating several chances in the opening 45 minutes.

"I feel like we've been slowly putting things together each and every game," Brophy said. "With the exception of the Houston Christian game, I thought we have been getting better and improving, so to see that culminate today was really positive and I think we've been building toward this."

The Lady Demons started fast with four shots in the first 12:28 and holding TAMUCC without a shot for the first 34 minutes.

Leading up to Griffin's goal, NSU had three shot attempts in the previous minute and a half.

Brophy stressed playing a full 90 minutes, and his team responded. The Lady Demons didn't take the foot off the gas, as Senatore scored in the 61^st minute to put the finishing touches on the victory.

On the goal, Jessica Spitzer made a terrific lead feed to Senatore, who gathered it in in the box and from the right side of the box, rolled it past Theriot in the middle of the net, catching her flat-footed.

"It feels great to finally score my first goal," Senatore said. "I've had so many opportunities this season and to finally put one away feels great. It feels so much sweeter to score this one after coming so close to getting one so many times this season."

In addition to Senatore's first career goal, the assist was Spitzer's first career point.

The defense kept the Islanders away from NSU goalkeeper Libe Banuelos, holding them to just five shot attempts, with just one being on frame, for Banuelos' fourth solo shutout of the season.

The shutout tied her for 10^th most career shutouts in program history with Brooke Bourbonais. Johnna Klohoker and Kayla Bomben.

Taylor Spitzer led NSU with five shots attempted. Murphy recorded a career-high four shot attempts, doubling her previous high. Five more players attempted two shots.

Next up for NSU is Senior Day, as it honors three players when it hosts Houston Christian in the last home game of the season. It concludes the regular season Oct. 27 when it travels down to face Nicholls.