BEAUMONT, Texas - Starting the Southland Conference season on the right note, Lamar University's women's soccer team is set to face-off against the defending conference champion Northwestern State University Demons. This Friday night matchup will pit the top two teams in the conference and will start at 7:00 PM in Natchitoches, La.

Simply The Best
The Cardinals are currently at 4-0-1 to start their season. This marks their best start in program history. Their previous start after five games was 4-1 in the 2020 season.

Ice Cool
Iceland native Eva Karen converted the team's only goal when in the 32nd minute, she drilled a penalty kick. This was her third goal of the season and her first career penalty kick taken.

Shutout the Lights
Nicole Panis recorded two straight shutouts in the previous week. With seven total saves, including five against South Alabama, this helped garner her second Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honors.

History With The Demons
In 15 meetings all-time, the Cardinals have won nine games, lost four, and drew twice against the Demons. LU last blanked NSU 2-0 at the LU Soccer Complex. Christine Kitaru contributed to both goals by scoring one and assisting on the other. Panis picked up four saves.

Scouting the Demons
At 4-1-1, the Demons are coming off a 1-0 victory over UIW to be 1-0 in the conference. They've allowed four goals all season long (trailing LU who has conceded two) while scoring a conference leading 17 goals (2.83 goals per game). Olivia Draguicevich leads all conference goal scorers with six for the season.

Keep the Goals Clean
Panis and Chloe DeShazer (NSU) are in the top two in goals against average as they are the only ones to be under 1.00. They also are in the top two in saves percentage (Panis: .923, DeShazer (.833) and shutouts (Panis: three, Deshazer: two).

Up Next
The Cardinals are back home this Sunday against Texas A&M-Commerce at 1:00 PM. LU will look to keep the eight-game home match winning streak going.

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