NATCHITOCHES—Through eight games, the Northwestern State soccer team had achieved a number of single game goals this season. But one item it desperately wanted was a clean sheet.
NSU (4-5, 1-0) earned just that in a hard-fought 2-0 win over Lamar (4-2-3, 1-1) on Thursday night at the Demon Soccer Complex.
"I thought we played really well from the opening whistle," head coach
Ian Brophy said. "We played our style of soccer and controlled the match and kept good possession.
"It was a good first half, but I was really happy with how we played in the second half and came out and was able to put the foot on the gas a little bit and really start pushing and scoring a couple goals and put the game away. We were able to keep a clean sheet and score a few goals, so I am really happy with the night overall."
Goalkeeper
Audrey Marfia recorded five saves and made numerous interceptions on crosses to thwart Lamar offensive opportunities, as she posted her first shutout of the season and the second in her career.
"I've been working on making good decisions on when to come out from my net," Marfia said. "I've been figuring out the back line and getting that chemistry down. I just trust my gut."
After a scoreless first half,
Emily Gundin and
Riley Stern found the back of the net to give the Demons the home victory, their 14
th straight unbeaten home contest, which is a new program record. It is also NSU's seventh straight home win.
Gundin connected on her sixth of the season on a beauty of a goal, started by
Tiana Cruz.
Cruz booted the ball long to
Paige Baumgartner and the graduate student crossed it to Gundin, and the senior scored on a perfectly-placed shot into the top right corner.
"It was a great build from the back all the way to the front," Gundin said. "Paige played me a ball early on, which is what we've been talking about, and I saw an opportunity and I just went for it. I have to watch it back because it happened so fast, but I heard it was pretty good."
It is Baumgartner's fifth assist in the last three games and she has recorded at least one point in five consecutive games. Her eight goals and 21 points are first in Southland, and her five assists are tied for second, only trailing teammate
Riley Stern.
Marfia made strong saves to keep the Demons in front and made crucial plays in traffic to keep the Cardinals off the board.
Lamar had surrendered just four goals this season coming into the contest and just two in the past seven games. Against a strong defense, NSU knew it had to match the intensity of the Lamar defense, and it did just that, led by
Emma Pethel.
"Emma was unbelievable," Brophy said. "She was shutting people down left and right and once again showed why she can be the best defender in the league. I was really excited by that performance. Emma was stellar tonight."
NSU doubled the lead after a foul in the box, as
Alexia Adimmah was tripped in the box.
Stern stepped up and buried the penalty kick, her fourth goal of the season, to wrap up the scoring in the 76
th minute.
In the final 15 minutes, the defense turned into shutdown mode, led by Pethel, and did not let Lamar record a shot attempt to seal the deal.
Each team had 11 shot attempts, as Baumgartner's three led the Demons and Kamdyn Jalayer's four led the game.
From one rivalry game to another, NSU heads to Stephen F. Austin on Sunday to round out the weekend, as the Demons aim to earn another three points.
