Last weekend, the Lady Demons played their last non-Conference game against LSU-A with a 5-0 win, and started conference play with a 0-1 loss against SFA. Going into the weekend, the Lady Demons were riding a four game winning streak, which ended at SFA. NSU Co-Head Coach Jess Jobe knew they had opportunities to win against SFA, but they missed on them, and allowed a well-organized team to take advantage of that.
“We know it’s still stinging a little bit, we know our players really wanted that one and fought hard for it. I thought they did well enough to deserve a point, if not three. They put a lot of things together and it was a good performance overall. We did out shoot them. We held their chances to a minimum. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to fit it in the back of the net for us and gave them an opportunity and they took it and that’s what we expected from a good team. SFA is a good team and they are well organized.”
The Lady Demons out shot SFA 18 to 4, but lost 1-0. However, they were able to bounce back in a shutout win against LSU-A 5-0. Jobe believes that win will carry into this Friday against McNeese, as conference play continues. “I thought the girls handle it well. I thought they bounce back well and did what we needed to do. We scored more goals and posted a shutout and continue to take a step forward. That’s something we talked about. Sunday was either going be a step forward or a step backwards. Not something we was just going be able to slip through so I thought they stepped up so we can move on to McNeese Friday.”
The Lady Demons continue conference play this weekend on the road Friday against McNeese and Lamar Sunday. McNeese finished top 3 in conference last year, and Lamar won the Southland Conference Championship. Sophomore defender Robyn Larson was sidelined for both games this past weekend, but will be back in action this upcoming weekend. Larson is excited to start conference play and looks forward to this week, but she knows there are areas to improve on going forward.
“I feel like we can do a better job at putting the game away and getting better shots at the goal. LSU-A and SFA are two different teams, but I feel we came out in both games with great energy and feel like that energy can carry over to this weekend against McNeese and Lamar,” said Larson
Freshmen forward Jalen Donaldson believes the team came out pretty confidently in both games, and played well enough to win both. The team did a good job working together and knows if they work together this week, then they can win both games.
“We came out pretty confident, played together and worked hard this past weekend and I feel like if we come out the same way this weekend then we can come back with wins,” said Donaldson. Southland Conference is a tough conference to play in and Jobe believes the team handled the first taste of conference well. Even though they lost against SFA on Friday, they were able to get the win Sunday against LSU-A, and look to continue their winning this Friday.
“It was our first taste of conference play, an idea of what a stronger opponent in the conference is going offer so that was a great experience for us and I think that injected a lot of belief into our coaching staff and our players. That ever game from here on out we can win and we can step on the field and be confidence that we can give ourselves chances to be successful,” said Jobe.
Photo by Chase Slater.
