Box Score

NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State's Maddy Hall broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 76th minute to allow the Lady Demons to hand Southeastern Louisiana its first Southland Conference loss in women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at the NSU Soccer Complex.

The loss snapped a nine-match unbeaten streak for the Lady Lions (11-4-1, 5-1-1 SLC). Northwestern State improved to 10-8 overall and 3-4 in Southland Conference play.

“We had several good chances late in the match, but could not capitalize,” Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle commented. “Northwestern State has a very good team and unfortunately things didn't go our way today.”

The loss also snapped Southeastern's four-match shutout streak. Prior to Hall's goal, the Lady Lions had not allowed an opponent to score in the previous 474 minutes of action. The score was only the ninth goal Southeastern has allowed this season.

Just prior to Hall's score, Southeastern had a prime chance to break the scoreless tie. The Lady Lions had two corner kicks in a two-minute span, which resulted in shot attempts by senior Candice Wallace, junior Natalie Santana and freshman Lauren Stillians that were all turned away by the Lady Demons.

Less than a minute later, Northwestern State worked its way down the field and was awarded a corner kick. Meghan Hunter played the ball on frame and Hall knocked it in past Southeastern goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus, who finished with five saves, to give Northwestern State a 1-0 lead. The goal was the sixth of the season for Hall.

Southeastern had several opportunities in the final minutes to knot the score. With just over six minutes left, NSU goalkeeper Lindy Strahan was called for a foul resulting in a yellow card. Santana's free kick was blocked, however. Freshman Kerry McWhirter and senior Dana Mayer each had shots sail wide in the final minutes, allowing the Lady Demons to secure the victory.

Southeastern will close out the regular season at home next weekend. On Friday, the Lady Lions will host McNeese State at 3 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex. Lamar visits Southeastern on Sunday for the 1 p.m. regular season finale. Wallace, Mayer, Jenna Oney and Gloria Burkhart will be honored prior to Sunday's match in a special Senior Day ceremony.