STARKVILLE, Mississippi—Three late Mississippi State goals in a span of three minutes turned a tight game into a deceiving final, as the Northwestern State soccer team fell 4-0 on Sunday at the MSU Soccer Field.

NSU (0-2) dropped its second straight match in a difficult early-season schedule for the Lady Demons, while MSU (2-0) recorded its second consecutive shutout.

"I am really proud of many performances," head coach Ian Brophy said. "We hung right with a top 20 team for a good portion of the game. If we can do that against a team like that, we're in really good shape."

In their first game, the Bulldogs scored in the third minute, which stood as the game-winner in a 1-0 victory against Baylor.

MSU needed just slightly longer to tally its first goal this time around, as the Bulldogs found the back of the net in the fifth minute to take the early lead.

On the goal, Ally Perry sent a cross into the box, where Alivia Buxton finished going top shelf from the right side of the box.

In addition to Perry earning an assist, Hannah Johnson was also given an assist.

MSU controlled much of the first half, leading in shots 17-0, but NSU held the score at 1-0 at halftime.

The Bulldogs had chance to take a bigger advantage, as Elle McCaslin hit the left post with a shot in the 36^th minute and Kennedy Husbands drilled the crossbar in the 44^th minute with another shot and it remained a one-goal game after 45 minutes.

It stayed that way until the 79^th minute.

"I am proud of how we played in the first 30 minutes of the second half," Brophy said. It seemed we were one ball away from creating big chances. We defended really well, but just encountered some bad luck in the final 12 minutes."

Aitana Martinez-Montoya scored bottom right on a penalty kick following an unlucky handball in the box.

Following the goal on the penalty kick, the Bulldogs added two more shortly thereafter.

In the 81^st minute, Naila Schoefberger made it 3-0 off a corner kick from Buxton to put the game away.

MSU scored off an own goal to cap off the scoring a minute later. Another unlucky bounce, a cross was sent in the box, but it bounced off the defense and went in the back of the NSU net.

Prior to the flurry from MSU, the Lady Demons had a few chances to net the equalizer.

Freshman Bailey Porter almost tied the score on an individual effort with a series of moves in the 65^th minute, but she couldn't get enough of her left-footed attempt on the right side of the box and it rolled wide right.

In the 66^th minute, Paige Baumgartner had an opportunity to tie the game, but the referee whistled her for being just offsides.

MSU out-shot NSU 29-1 in the game.

After stopping 11 shots in the opener at SMU, Libe Banuelos recorded seven more saves.

Six Bulldogs attempted at least three shots, led by Johnson's five.

NSU continues its string of four straight to begin the season on the road with a trip to another SEC foe, Arkansas, on Aug. 25 before rounding out the stretch with a visit to in-state UL Lafayette on Aug. 29.

"We're improving as a team," Brophy said. "We were only down 1-0 at the half, so against a better team, we were better than we were last game. I feel like we are in a really good place, much better than we were at this time last year."