BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's soccer team looks to get off to a 2-0 start in Southland Conference play for the first time in four years when it travels to Northwestern State to open a two-game weekend swing at 7 p.m. Friday.
 
The Cardinals (5-5-0 overall, 1-0-0 Southland) conclude the weekend with a conference game at Central Arkansas at 1 p.m. Sunday. LU, which opened conference play with a 1-0 win over Nicholls on Sept. 18, has not opened its conference slate with back-to-back wins since 2011, when the Cardinals won their first four SLC games.
 
"We know every conference game is going to be tough," LU coach Orlando Cervantes said. "The Southland is so evenly balanced this season."
 
The Cardinals enter the week as the top offensive team in the nation with 33 goals and 90 points. The single-season record for goals is 41, set in 2012, the year the Cardinals advanced to the finals of the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
"We have players who know how to score. They're young and they're getting better," Cervantes said. "They just have to learn to play their game the entire time. We get in trouble when we get away from our style."
 
LU sophomore Alexus Aviles leads the Southland Conference with eight goals and 17 points. She is tied for ninth in the nation in goals and tied for 17^th in points. Senior Mari Olastuen, who set a single-season LU record with her sixth assist in Sunday's 4-2 non-conference loss at Texas State, is tied for the conference lead in assists and tied for ninth nationally.
Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy, who recorded her first career shutout in LU's win over Nicholls, leads the Southland Conference with 62 saves, good for sixth in the nation. Lovejoy has started every game for the Cardinals this season.
 
"Lauren continues to get better and play with more confidence," Cervantes said. "She has come up with some big saves for us."
 
Northwestern State (3-4-2, 0-0-1) opened its conference season with a 1-1 tie at defending regular-season champion Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 18. The Lady Demons are led by Kayleigh Phillips, who has four goals and one assist for nine points. Brooke Bourbonais (3-2-1, 1.11) and Alex Latham (0-2-1, 1.38) share the goalkeeping duties, as both netminders have appeared in every game for the Lady Demons this season.
 
Central Arkansas (3-6-0, 0-1-0) dropped a 2-1 overtime decision at Sam Houston State on Sept. 18. The Bears are led Shelby Wilson, who has nine points on four goals and one assist. Anna Hughes (3-5-0, 1.34) has started every game in goal this season for the Bears.
 
The Cardinals return home for a pair of games next weekend, hosting Stephen F. Austin at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 and Sam Houston State at 1 p.m. Oct. 4.