NATCHITOCHES, La. – In front of a raucous home crowd, Southland Player of the Year Gracie Armstrong scored a pair of goals with two assists in the first ten minutes of the second half as second-seeded Northwestern State rolled to a 5-0 win over seventh-seeded McNeese in quarterfinal action on Wednesday.
The Demons advance to the semifinals to face third-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce at 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Cowgirls’ season comes to a close at 5-9-4.
Northwestern State struck first in the ninth minute as a cross from Natalee Henry found the head of Hallie Field and gave the Demons the early 1-0 advantage.
McNeese tried to counter with any sort of offensive momentum, but the Demons controlled the first half while only hanging on to the 1-0 advantage.
The Demons came out firing in the second half and completely put the match out of reach in the first nine minutes.
Armstrong began the rout with a takeaway in McNeese territory, finding a streaking Olivia Draguiecevich for an excellent far post finish at a 2-0 lead in the 48th minute.
In the 53rd minute, Armstrong struck again, this time taking an excellent touch in the box and using her skill to beat the keeper high and make the lead three.
Armstrong found a rebound on an incredible look from Caroline Hilliard in the 55th minute to make it 4-0 and put the Demons in complete control.
An Armstrong scored in the 72nd minutes, but this time it was sister Paige Armstrong on an excellent cross from Kristina New Soto.
Northwestern State held a dominant 14-3 advantage in shots and 5-1 in corner kicks.