NATCHITOCHES -- WIth 200 career wins under his belt, Northwestern State soccer head coach Jimmy Mitchell will lead the Lady Demons into what is arguably the toughest, non-conference weekend of the 2011 campaign.

 Friday the Lady Demons (4-3) will face off against the Southern Mississippi (3-3-2) at 7 o'clock at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex then will turnaround on Sunday for a nationally televised visit to TCU (4-3-1).  That game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Conference Television Network.

 "This is going to be a great weekend to show us how we've progressed since the start of the season," said Mitchell who is 200-162-22 in now his 20th season of coaching.  "Both teams will present a big challenge for us that will help us prepare for the upcoming conference season."

 Southern Miss has faced two common opponents of NSU this season - having defeated reigning Southland Conference foe Southeaster Louisiana by a 3-1 count before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Louisiana-Lafayette.  The Lady Demons fell to ULL 1-0 in overtime to open the season and will open league play against SLU at home on Sept. 30.

 This will be the fifth meeting between NSU and USM with the most recent being last year when the Golden Eagles won 2-0.  USM was won all previous five contests.

 The Lady Demons are led this season by senior forward  Meghan Hunter who has seven points and two goals. She has made a huge impact on NSU coming back very strong from a knee injury that sidelined her all of last season.

 "She's a difference maker," said Mitchell of Hunter.  "She gives us so much on the field, including great leadership."

 Sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Danku leads the Northwestern State in the backfield who has started every game between the posts. She has 35 saves on the season, which is halfway to her total from last year, and has allowed only seven goals.

 The Lady Demons will be without the services of two players on Friday night - sophomore midfielder Yanci Johnson and sophomore forward Alexandria Jackson.  Johnson will miss the game as a penalty for receiving a red card against Tulsa in last Sunday's contest while Jackson will be out after she suffered a serious neck injury towards the end of the game.  Jackson was life flighted out of the complex area to a hospital in Alexandria where she underwent several tests.  She was released the following day and is expected to make a full recovery and could be back in the lineup in a few weeks.

 Junior forward Jordan Wagner leads the Golden Eagles in points with eight and goals with four.