LAFAYETTE—Northwestern State scored its first goal of the season off the foot of
Iesha Rollins, but it wasn't enough in a 4-1 road loss to UL Lafayette on Sunday night at the Home Bank Soccer & Track Complex.
NSU (0-4) scored its first goal of the season via a penalty kick from Rollins, but it was too little, too late, as the Ragin Cajuns scored the first three of the match.
The Demons found the back of the net on a penalty kick after a long free kick from NSU bounced and hit a ULL defender's hand. Her shot went bottom left for her first goal as a Demon.
But the homestanding Ragin' Cajuns scored one in the first half and three more in the second to take control on the scoreboard, led by two penalty kick goals of their own just a minute apart in the final 45 minutes.
"I thought we were a bit unlucky for the score to turn out the way it did," head coach
Ian Brophy said. "I thought we dominated in the first half and had control but had a self-inflicted wound for the first goal with a giveaway right in front of our goal. After that, it was just us trying to plug away. I felt like we were due for a goal in the first half, but never got one.
"We need to find a way to eliminate self-inflicted wounds with the penalty kicks because then you find yourself 3-0 down. There are some positives to take away in the way we played, but we just have to eliminate the self-inflicted wounds."
ULL scored the lone goal in the first half in the 19
th minute, as Kendal Green intercepted a pass just outside the top of the Demons goal box and dribbled in and beat Demons goalkeeper
Saki Tsuchiya bottom left in a 1-on-1 opportunity.
Even though the Ragin' Cajuns had the lead at halftime and the eventual win, the Demons created the most chances they have during the young season.
ULL had the opening chance of the game, as Carson Glenn had a breakaway in the fourth minute, but her shot was stopped by Tsuchiya in the middle of the net.
In the 10
th minute, the Demons were driving in, but
Kendall Hemperley's cross was intercepted in the box.
Hemperley also had a chance in the 35
th minute, but her shot sailed high following the Demons first corner kick of the match.
The Ragin' Cajuns controlled action early in the second half, scoring a pair of penalty kicks following fouls in the box a minute apart in the 62
nd and 63
rd minutes, including one via a review.
Both were scored off the foot of Mika Kurihara, who leads the Ragin' Cajuns in goals with five this season, finding the back of the net in all four contests.
ULL tacked one more to finish the scoring on a shot from the top left corner of the box off the foot of Alexa Ferraro, going top right corner of the goal.
Following Rollins' goal, ULL's defense limited the Demons limited a pair of shots for the remainder of the game but had opportunities to cut the deficit to one.
The Demons recorded a total of six shot attempts, which is a season high.
Next up is a break for NSU before heading back on the road for a game with Alcorn State on Sept. 3 to conclude the stretch of five consecutive road matches to begin the season before coming home to Natchitoches for the first time in the regular season against Louisiana Tech.
"It's been tough to practice with how much we've been traveling," Brophy said. "This will be great to have a little bit of time to practice and work on some things and hopefully fix some things we need correcting. We'll really benefit from this week of training and being able to heal up a little bit because with such tough games, it will be good to get healthier before Alcorn.
