BEAUMONT, Texas - In a game that featured 19 fouls, two yellow cards, and 39 combined shot attempts, Lamar University's soccer team came out on top with a 1-0 shutout of Northwestern State. The Cardinal goalie Sandra Nygard had 11 saves, and Anna Loftus scored the second goal of her career to put Big Red over the top.

"It was a hard-fought win but a win none-the-less," said head coach Steve Holeman. "Credit to Northwestern State, who was very good today. We were fortunate in the first half to not be down a goal or maybe two; they outworked us and outplayed us and to go into halftime knotted at 0-0 favored us and gave us a chance to regroup and talk about some things. We were better in the second half, we got more into our game, and on a Sunday game in the heat like this we had to be able to control the ball and limit chances. Sandra had a really nice game as well. At the end of the day, sometimes you just have to grind out wins."

Northwestern State was on the attack from the get-go with 13 first-half attempts compared to LU's five; six of NSU's attempts found their way on-goal, though Nygard saved all six of those shots. NSU also had significantly more set pieces in the first with nine to just two for Big Red. The Demons had a couple of close calls, but Nygard and the back line put up a wall against statistically one of the best offenses in the country - Northwestern State entered the game leading the NCAA in shots attempted per game.

Momentum shifted visibly in Lamar's favor in the second half. The Cards had three more shot attempts - 12 to nine - than the Demons, and six of those attempts were on goal. The Northwestern State goalie managed to save five of those shots, including one on a penalty kick from Rubi Villegas, but one finally broke through. Driving down the field, Amelia Fullmer passed in the ball from the far right side. She found Kelso Peskin near the goal, and Peskin in turn used a deft touch to put the ball at Loftus's feet about three yards away from the net. Loftus dribbled once before firing away, scoring the game-winner in the 66th minute.

Lamar improves to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in Southland Conference play, and the Demons of Northwestern State fall to 6-5, 0-3 SLC. The Cards will take their perfect conference record on the road for the next two games, playing at Sam Houston State on Sept. 28 and at Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 30.