CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team was downed by Northwestern State in its return home on Sunday afternoon, playing a tight affair with the preseason conference favorites early but faltering in the second half and falling by a final score of 2-0.
 
In contrast to what the scoreboard said at full time, it was the Islanders (4-7-3, 1-4-1 SLC) that looked like the stronger squad early on, with the hosts turning the heat on the Lady Demons (7-6-0, 4-1-0 SLC) with four shots before the visitors could attempt their first. This included a prime opportunity in the 11^th minute, when Katie Porter sent in a hard shot on a free kick right outside of the box that was saved by NSU keeper Audrey Marfia, setting up a rebound in front of the goal that was sent just over the bar by Natalie Nyberg for a narrow miss.
 
Right after this, the Lady Demons found their first spark of the day, getting two shots of their own on net that keeper Addie Brown managed to turn away. This would be the start of a back and forth between the two teams up until the buzzer sounded for halftime, with the two finishing with identical totals of eight shots and five shots on goal. The Islanders also took two more corners against none on the other side but could not convert either of them, bringing things into the break with no score.
 
Where the match turned was at the very beginning of the second half, when Northwestern State came out with two goals in a 90-second span to put A&M-Corpus Christi in a deep hole. The first of these came in the 51^st minute on a corner kick, which ended up going down as an own goal after the ball found the head of an Islanders defender before reaching the net. On the restart, the Lady Demons struck again, doubling up the hosts' deficit on a score from Ravina Sandhu.
 
Suddenly looking for some momentum, the Islanders had a couple chances at answering in the final period, first when Dakota Merino nearly found the team's opening goal on a free kick from well beyond the box that forced Marfia to punch the try over the bar. Another long range try from Divano in the 78^th minute and a shot from Porter in the 83^rd would represent their other scoring opportunities, but neither ended up turning into goals, and the clock struck zeroes before they could work their way back into things.
 
In the final scoresheet, the Islanders and Lady Demons ended up dead even in shots with 13 and shots on goal with eight, with the former actually attempting more corners and drawing more fouls despite being handed the loss. Individually, Porter and Nyberg each led the team with three shots apiece, while Divano joined them as the group to attempt multiple with two. On the other side, Brown logged seven saves to mark her third-highest total of the year.
 
The Islanders will now head back on the road for their next two contests, with the first being on Thursday in Commerce against East Texas A&M at 7 p.m.
 
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