Oct. 31, 2008

Final Stats

SAN MARCOS - Mandi Mawyer had two crucial saves Friday night, a tally that helped her to her seventh shutout of the season and the Texas State Bobcats to its 11-straight undefeated contest after edging the Northwestern State Lady Demons 1-0 at the Bobcat Soccer Complex.

The win over Northwestern State improves Texas State's overall record to 10-3-4 and 6-0-2 in Southland Conference action. NSU falls to 9-7-2 and 4-3-1, respectively.

In tonight's SLC action, No. 1 McNeese State fell to Sam Houston State, 3-0, while SFA snuck by Lamar in a 1-0 contests. The Cowgirls will travel to Nacogdoches Sunday afternoon and back-to-back losses would drop the team to 6-2-2 heading into the postseason tournament and lend sole possession of the regular season title to the Bobcats.

"That was an unbelievable game!" said head coach Kat Conner. "Northwestern State is one of the best teams we have seen all year. They completely took us out of our comfort zone and made us made us play at a phenomenal pace. They really pushed us to step up and play."

Rikki Padia led the Bobcats on its first run at the goal, charging in at 11:51 but Lindy Strahan grabbed her first save of the night on Padia's punch. The Lady Demons countered with a feisty attack and drew a corner kick three minutes later. Off the dish from Rachel O'Steen, Bobbi Hayes nailed a shot straight to the net from 11 yards out, but Mawyer's quick reaction deadened the attempt.

The pair of shots early on were the lone two shots on goal for the first period. NSU managed to hold Texas State to just four more attempts, while the Bobcats defense rationed the foe to one less.

Battling Northwestern State brought a higher level of competition to the field and the Bobcats stepped up to the challenge in the second half to avoid the possible loss or tie game.

"The whole team stepped up," added Conner. "The win came in the details and everyone did their part to focus on the details."

Andrea Grifo lined out her path focusing in on a pressing Lady Demon offense, and when a pass flew awry, the junior was there to pick-off the ball and head to the net. Strahan attempted to take on Grifo one-on-one, but faltered, giving the midfielder what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Texas State finished with a 16-7 shot margin over NSU and Strahan recorded five saves in the contest.

Mawyer's seven shutouts tie the all-time most shutouts recorded in a season record set by Kristen Tutt in 2002.

Sunday's regular season finale will feature a senior presentation honoring Jami Batchelor, Padia, Reagan McNutt and Marty Wright. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. kick-off against the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears.