BEAUMONT, Texas—Northwestern State struggled to keep possession in a 2-0 loss at Lamar, but other results around the Southland Conference earned NSU at least a share of the conference regular season title.

A Stephen F. Austin tie earned the Demons (11-4-3, 6-2-1) at least a share of the regular season championship, as NSU is up three points on SFA and East Texas A&M with one game to play.

"To win a share a share is great," head coach Ian Brophy said. "Obviously we've got one game left, and we'd like to win it outright. That will be our focus going into next week.
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"But I am really disappointed with the way we played tonight and the overall level of play. We didn't really stick to the way we normally play. That was tough, but it was a well-deserved win for Lamar."

At Lamar, a pair of second half goals from the league's leading scorer Lauren Smith was too much to overcome in just NSU's second SLC defeat of the season.

The goals came in the final 13 minutes of the game, as Kam Jalayer sent in a cross that Smith headed home in the 77^th minute, and then added one more on the same connection on a breakaway, as Smith chipped it over NSU goalkeeper Kennedy Rist to seal the game.

The game saw an evenly played first half, as the Demons held a 6-4 shots edge in the first 45 minutes.

Each team had chances to put the ball in the back of the net but came up empty.

For the Demons, Emily Senatore was robbed by Lamar goalkeeper Maddie Rich at the top right corner of the goal in the 31^st minute.

Smith created chances much of the first half for the home team but could not find the back if the net.

The second half was controlled by the Cardinals, out-shooting NSU 11-3.

In the 75^th minute, Anneliese Switzer had a clean look at the net, but her shot sailed past the top right corner of the goal.

But the pressure Lamar put on NSU all night long took its toll, and the Cardinals broke through with Smith's header in the 77^th minute.

Six minutes later, Smith added another, as the Demons pressed to try for the equalizer, but Lamar found a second goal on a counter-attack, as Smith scored on a breakaway to double the lead.

Smith had a game-high five shots with four on goal, while Senatore led the Demons in shots with four.

Rich made three saves for Lamar, while Rist recorded six saves, her most since stopping eight shots in a win over East Texas A&M earlier this month.

"I think we take more away from losses than wins in terms of what we learn," Brophy said. "We'll probably learn more and grow more from this type of game than if we had won.

"We're going to have to benefit from that growth and really take that on this week and that will hopefully take us to where we want to be. But we have seen that this year. After every loss, we have seen that growth and that improvement and desire to fix the things we need to fix."

The Demons aim to rebound and win the conference title outright with a victory at Nicholls to end the regular season before coming right back to Beaumont for the SLC Tournament, beginning Nov. 4.