RUSTON, La. – A solid defensive effort by the Lamar University women's soccer team went for naught Sunday, as Louisiana Tech scored two late goals to claim a 2-0 win over the Cardinals in a non-conference game.
 
LU (0-2-0) kept Louisiana Tech (2-0-0) in check for most of the game, only to see the Lady Techsters score twice in the final nine minutes to grab the win. It's the first time since 2012 the Cardinals have opened with two losses and the first time since 2008 that LU has been blanked in its first two games of the season.
 
Mylene Roy-Ouellet opened when she took a pass from Kathryn Sloan near the top of the box and fired a shot past LU goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy with just 8:40 remaining in the contest. Roy-Ouellet scored again less than three minutes later, once again on a pass from Sloan to make it 2-0 with 5:53 remaining.
 
LU had a solid defensive effort in the first half, as the teams played a scoreless period.  Lovejoy had two saves for the Cardinals, while Kylee Seto had to make one save for the Lady Techsters.
 
"We played a great first half," LU coach Orlando Cervantes. "They did everything we talked about and asked them to do. "Unfortunately, we got away from that in the second half and it cost us."

LU's best chance in the first half came with a little less than four minutes remaining when Alexus Aviles' header was stopped by Seto.
 
The Cardinals were outshot 10-2 in the second half, managing just one shot on goal after intermission. For the game, Louisiana Tech had an 18-6 advantage in total shots.
 
"It's not a skill thing," Cervantes said. "We have the talent. But we have to play smarter. We're holding onto the ball and not being aggressive enough. We have a lot of young players who are still getting used to the speed at Division I.
 
"After that first goal, we buckled a little bit, but we turned it up after the second goal and became more aggressive, but it was too late. That's the way we needed to play the whole game. We have to stop being tentative."
 
Lovejoy made three saves for LU, while Seto made two saves for Louisiana Tech. Jannet Hernandez had two of LU's six shots.
 
The Cardinals return home for a pair of non-conference games next weekend. LU hosts Texas Southern at 7 p.m. Friday before LSU-Alexandria comes to the LU Soccer Complex at 5 p.m. Aug. 30.
 
"It will be good to get home and play two games in front of our fans," Cervantes said. "We're going to learn from this weekend and we're going to get better."
 
For ticket information, call 409-880-1715, or visit www.LamarCardinals.com.