BATON ROUGE—Two goals by LSU in the first 14 minutes were too much to overcome, as Northwestern State fell in a hard-fought contest 2-1 on Sunday evening in the final non-conference game of the season at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
Both goals were scored off the foot of Taylor Dobles five minutes apart, which put an end to NSU's (2-5) two-match winning streak.
Like so many games this season, the NSU defense held the opponent off the scoreboard the final 75 minutes to keep it in it at the end.
LSU (5-2-1) started the game by making a living in the offensive zone and peppering NSU goalkeeper
Libe Banuelos with shots.
The Tigers attempted seven shots in the first 13:22, two of which found the back of the net.
"We didn't have a great opening 15 minutes," first-year head coach
Ian Brophy said. "But once we got the grips on the game, we grew throughout the game. In the second half, it was more of what we were looking for."
LSU found the back of the net for the first time following a scramble from the middle of the box, as Dobles rolled it past Banuelos in the lower middle of the goal.
Dobles scored again in the 14
th minute, as she received a nifty pass into the middle of the box in the ninth minute and she scored again lower middle of the box to double the lead.
In between the goals, Banuelos made two of her career-high 10 saves in succession to keep the deficit at one for a moment.
LSU attempted 27 shots, 12 of which came on goal. The Tigers attempted 15 shots in the first half.
The Lady Demons drew closer on a goal from
Taylor Spitzer, her team-leading second of the year, in the 62
nd minute following a turnover. Spitzer received a pass from
Emily Mougia and Spitzer sent it to the back of the net from the right of the box about five yards out.
All five of NSU's goals on the season have come in the second half.
Banuelos made six of her 10 saves in the second half, keeping LSU off the board and NSU in the game.
"Libe has really been building from what she has done all year," Brophy said. "She made some huge saves to keep us in the game. A game like this where we held LSU off the board in the second half to win the half gives us a lot of confidence moving forward."
Whenever NSU needed her to make a big save, she did just that.
Spitzer added her second goal of the season and sixth career tally in the 62
nd minute off the assist from Mougia, her first point of the season.
Shortly after Spitzer's goal, LSU had a golden opportunity to push the lead back to two, but Mollie Baker's shot went wide left.
Following a turnover, Baker had a clean look from the left side of the box, but her shot hit the side of the net and the game remained 2-1. Baker led all players with 11 shot attempts.
Dobles, Jordan Johnson and Jaden Humbyrd all had three for LSU.
Spitzer led NSU in shots with two, both of which were on goal.
The Lady Demons begin the conference season with a visit from Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 17, as NSU starts league play with a pair of home games.