NATCHITOCHES – McNeese (6-2-1) women's soccer took to the road on Friday, and took down Northwestern St (4-5), after a game winning goal by senior forward, Savannah LaRicci in the third minute of overtime put the Cowgirls over the Lady Demons 2-1.
 
Since the program began in 1996, the Cowgirls have never achieved six wins in the first nine contests. The victory over the Lady Demons was their fourth consecutive victory on the season, and fourth win on the road. McNeese is now 12-14-5 against Northwestern, 6-6-4 when playing in Natchitoches.
 
The Lady Demons held a 1-0 lead come halftime. Junior forwards April Trowbridge and Brittany Caserma linked up for a goal, sending one in to the goal from the middle of the box in the 27^th minute. Northwestern would not see the back of the net for the remainder of the match.
 
After halftime, the McNeese offense came alive, increasing their shots from six to ten, and allowing only seven shots from the Northwestern front. In the 57^th minute, freshman Anna Watson saw a scoring opportunity and sent the ball into the box to LaRicci. LaRicci was able to get a shot on the ground and passed the NSU goalkeeper to tie the ball game 1-1.
 
Once regulation had ended and the score remained tied, the Cowgirls came back to the pitch hungry for the win. Only three minutes into the first overtime period, LaRicci was given a short pass from Nola Prickett just passed midfield. LaRicci dribbled around a defender and gave it her best boot, sending the ball into the top of the net and ending the match with 93:42 on the clock.

"I think being down 1-0 at halftime motivated us to come back and show Northwestern what we are really made of so we came out strong and I just knew that we needed to get a goal, so I gave my all to score for my team," LaRicci said.
 
Seven different cowgirls took a shot in tonight's match, both Savannah LaRicci and Havana Johnson both had four, and junior midfielder Nola Prickett had three of her own. Every player off of the Cowgirl bench had at least one shot in the win. In the goal, Roccaforte added another win to her stat sheet, adding five more saves as well.
 
"We gutted one out against a very talented Northwestern team tonight. Several players came up huge, including Emma in the goal. Savannah's persistence tonight was great, the team rallied and truly accepted the challenge of trying to overcome the deficit. The came together and got the win, I am really proud of them," head coach Drew Fitzgerald says. Fitzgerald is now 15-12-2 at the helm.
 
The Cowgirls will travel to Conway, Arkansas on Sunday to compete against the UCA Bears at 1:00PM. You can find all things Cowgirl Soccer at McNeeseSports.com or on Twitter at @McNeeseSoccer.