NATCHITOCHES—It was nearly a Hollywood script.

Julia Pinho Magno, who spoke about her friendship with her grandmother who is battling cancer during the week, found the back of the net in the second half in the Fork Cancer game to put Northwestern State (7-5-2, 3-1-1) in front.

But Houston Christian (3-7-4, 1-2-2) found the back of the net in the 81^st minute to earn the 1-1 tie in the Southland Conference match Friday evening at the Demon Soccer Complex.

"We wanted the three points, obviously," head coach Ian Brophy said. "But a point is not a bad result at the end. Getting a draw here is unfortunate because we were up a goal. I think we could have seen out that last 15 minutes better and not given up that goal there.

"Overall, I thought we were very good in the second half and earned our goal and continued to create goal-scoring chances. I am little disappointed we weren't able to get that second goal."

With the tie, the Demons grow the home unbeaten streak to eight games dating back to 2023, going 5-0-3 in that time.

Pinho Magno, a sophomore from Lakewood Ranch, Florida, found the back of the net for the first time this season in the 51^st minute following a scoreless first half.

After a throw-in from Caroline Hilliard, the ball found its way to Pinho Magno, who blasted a shot through traffic in front of the net. The ball deflected off a defender and past HCU goalkeeper Emmy McKeon in the lower left portion of the goal.

It is Pinho Magno's second career goal, both of which have come against HCU.

"It was a good goal for her," Brophy said. "She kept it low through traffic and gets that deflection to help it go in, a really great strike on her part.

"It must have been a special goal for her, considering it is Fork Cancer night and what she has dealt with within her family. I am really happy for Julia."

The lead lasted up until the final 10 minutes when the Huskies put on the full-court press to try to score the equalizer.

It worked, as Katie Marker found a wide open Olivia Rossman in the box, who scored going bottom right to tie the match.

Despite the Demons out-shooting the Huskies 15-11 for the game and 8-3 in the second half, the game finished with a 1-1 draw.

"I thought we played a lot better in the second half than we did in the first," Brophy said. "We talked about it halftime, we just needed to get the team re-focused on some of the things we do well and how we can get control of the game.

"In the second half, we were able to play our game and utilize what we work on during training. After that, we were able to get a handle on the game and create scoring chances."

Of the 15 shots by the Demons, Pinho Magno attempted career highs in shots (5) and shots on goal (3).

In the first half, the Demons controlled the first 30 minutes, but could not find the back of the net. Shot attempted from Emily Gundin and Emily Senatore were either saved or sailed high and off target.

The final 15 minutes of the half were dominated by the Huskies, but the Demons defense stood tall.

Jessica Spitzer blocked a shot against Marker on a 1-on-1 chance for the Huskies, and HCU made life difficult for the Northwestern State defense, but Libe Banuelos and the Demons back line held the Huskies to just one shot on goal, which Banuelos saved.

Northwestern State wraps up the weekend with a home contest against Texas A&M-Commerce, a matchup of two of the three teams in the SLC with only one loss during league play.