As the sun set Friday, a shadow was cast over the Northwestern Lady Demons. Nicholls scored a pair of unexpected goals in the final 23 minutes of the game to take down Louisiana-Monroe, 2-1, in Southland Conference women’s soccer action on Friday. The win enabled Nicholls to tie a school record for victories in a season while issuing the Lady Indians their first SLC loss.
“We were all really excited about this win,” sophomore Sarah Marcantell said. “This was the first game that we have played that we made a big comeback to win. It proved that we can achieve anything even though we are low in numbers due to injuries.”
With the Lady Indians in a 1-0 lead before half-time, the Lady Colonels emerged into the second half of the game, and took control of it. Junior Candice O’Meallie recieved a cross kick from Tyna Wells to score, which tied the game. With 14 minutes left to play, freshman Melissa Bonneau scored, heading the ball off of a pass by sophomore Sarah Marcantel.
“This was a great win for us,” head soccer coach Jim Zakel said. “I thought they might look past us and we took advantage of that. Our game Tuesday night at Southeastern was a real turning point for us. We are playing like a new team.”
After their victory, the girls moved on to their next battle against Northwestern State’s Lady Demons on Sunday. When the game came to an end, they had been defeated, a 1-0 loss.
Freshman goalkeeper Lindsey Bartlett recorded three saves for the Lady Colonels (2-5, 1-3), who attempted just as many shots as their visitors from Natchitoches. Junior Tyna Wells led an assault in NWSU’s netminder Tiffany Swingler with three shots on goal, while sophomore Roxanna Gonzalez added two. Other attempted shots were made by Bonneau, Nicole Matuska and O’Mealle.
“The loss was horrible because the team was so pumped up. There was poor refereeing on the field which was a big part of the outcome of the game,” freshman Angelle Hotard said.
The Lady Colonels return to action on Friday, closing out a three match homestead by hosting McNeese State at 4 p.m.
