THIBODAUX - McNeese kept its hold onto first place in the Southland Conference standings after Sunday's 2-0 win over Nicholls as sophomore forward
Rachel Young netted her team-leading fifth and sixth goals on the season.
The win improved the Cowgirls' record to 9-3-2 overall and 6-1-1 in league play. Northwestern State also improved to 6-1-1 in SLC action with a win over Southeastern on Sunday, but the Cowgirls hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Demons by way of 2-0 win back on Sept. 26.
The Cowgirls dominated the match from start to finish, barely allowing the Colonels any offense in the 90 minutes of action, as they out-shot Nicholls by a 24-4 margin including an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal. Of those 24 shots, seven came from inside the penalty box, two of them being Young's goals, while another in the goal box by
Olivia Broussard that was blocked midway through the second half.
Following a scoreless first half, Young put the Cowgirls on top 1-0 at the 59-minute mark when her shot from just outside the right corner of the goal box, sailed high and right into the corner off an assist by
Keely Morrow. Right about 20 minutes later, Young put one in the left corner of the goal from the direct opposite side of the penalty box to make it a 2-0 game.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper
Emma Roccaforte recorded her third shutout of the season and 16th of her career while picking up her 26th career win in the net.Â
Also with the win, Cowgirls head coach
Drew Fitzgerald improved his career mark to 57-42-6 and is a win away from his fourth straight 10-win season with a fall schedule.
The Cowgirls will return to action on Friday when they host UIW (3-9-1, 3-4) to begin a three-game homestand. McNeese will then host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-7-2, 2-3-2) on Oct. 17 before closing out the home portion of its schedule on Oct. 22 vs. HBU (3-8-3, 3-3-2). The Cowgirls will visit Northwestern State (6-4-3, 6-1-1) on Oct. 29 to close out the regular season and conference play.
Worth Noting:
• McNeese is 4-0-1 in its last five matches, outscoring teams 9-3 in the process.
• Since starting out the season 2-2 through the first four matches, the Cowgirls are 7-1-2 over the last 10 games.
•
Rachel Young has scored five of her six goals over the last four games.
• The Cowgirls are 6-0 at home this season.
