NATCHITOCHES—If at first, you don't succeed, try again.

That is just what Paige Baumgartner did, as she put home a rebound off her own miss for the lone goal of the game in a 1-0 Northwestern State (11-3-3, 6-1-1) win over visiting UIW 4-7-3, 2-4-2) on Sunday afternoon to win its fifth game in a row.

With a 7-0-2 mark at the Demon Soccer Complex, the victory earned the Demons their first unbeaten home record since 2005, and more importantly, put NSU one step closer to a Southland Conference regular season championship.

The Demons are four points up on second-place Stephen F. Austin and six points ahead of third-place East Texas A&M with two games remaining.

It is the most consecutive victories since a seven-game winning streak for the Demons last year.

"I am really happy with the performance in the way we dominated the game and controlled possession," head coach Ian Brophy said. "I thought we had a lot of good chances, and we were knocking on the door a couple of times to get the goal we needed, so it was good to finally see us put one away.

"To finish unbeaten at home for the first time in 20 years is obviously a big achievement and something they should be proud of, but we know we're not done, and we have two more big games left and we want to make sure we get more wins on the board."

After recording several shot attempts, Baumgartner found the back of the net for the third straight game.

In the 64^th minute, Hosane Soukou dribbled down the right flank and sent in a cross to Baumgartner in the middle of the box, but her shot was saved by Hannah Alexander, but she surrendered a rebound and Baumgartner cleaned it up to score it, going to the top left corner.

Those were two of a school-record 12 shot attempts in the game for Baumgartner.

Her four total goals are the tied for the most in the SLC during league games and her eight points are tied for second.

"It felt great to get that goal," Baumgartner said. "I was able to get my own rebound and I was really hoping the ball would fall back to me and it did, and it was just a perfect opening and it felt amazing to get the goal to win the game."

While the NSU offense out-shot UIW 24-6, the Cardinals held their own defensively, as Alexander made eight saves.

The Demons defense had a standout afternoon again, as they held the visitors to six shot attempts and without a shot for the final 40 minutes of the game, even when UIW was in desperation mode.

"We're such a tight-knit group as a defense," Jessica Spitzer said. "In practice, we get into rotations that we want, and we make sure everyone on the defensive back line is solid. Annie (Stook) stepped up and an amazing game for us, and while we miss Sophia (Minnillo), we will make sure the back line stays solid no matter who is in."

Kennedy Rist stopped three shots to record her seventh shutout of the season, tied for the fourth-most in school history for a single season.

Perhaps NSU's best opportunity in the first half came at the 10-minute mark, as Baumgartner's shot hit the post before Riley Stern and Emily Senatore each had their shots saved by Alexander and Baumgartner's second attempt of the sequence sailed high.

In the second half, the Cardinals recorded two shot attempts in the first five minutes but were stymied by the Demons defense the rest of the way.

This weekend, NSU surrendered just 14 shot attempts with six being on frame, leading to a pair of shutouts.

NSU continues its quest for a conference crown with a trip to Lamar on Thursday before finishing the regular season with a trip to Nicholls on Oct. 30.