NATCHITOCHES --  Two-time 2011 Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week Jessica Danku will lead the Northwestern State soccer team against Texas Southern Friday at 7 o'clock at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex in the final game of its non-conference schedule.

“We want to finish the non-conference part of our schedule on a positive note and get ready for Southland play,” said head coach Jimmy Mitchell. “We have a chance to have a winning record in non-conference games and we really want to accomplish that goal.”

Texas Southern (0-8) will enter the game with plenty of Southland Conference experience, having already played Sam Houston, UTSA, Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana, and Lamar.  The Lady Tigers are being outscored 38-0 against Southland opponents this season.

“Despite the record, Texas Southern is a very well coached team,” said Mitchell. “I have always said that Tamura Crawley (head coach of Texas Southern) gets more effort out of her teams than most coaches I have ever known.”

NSU will go into the game off of a very tough, grinding weekend that led to a 2-0 home win over Southern Mississippi before falling 1-0 at TCU.

“I would normally say that our depth would be a big advantage but we will have a number of players out or seeing very limited action this Friday,” Mitchell said.

Danku will go into Friday's contest after a fantastic weekend between the pipes for the Lady Demons, and that great play led to her winning Goalkeeper of the Week for the Southland Conference.

She played all 180 minutes and recorded a shutout on 13 saves.  She saw 28 shots at TCU alone, saved seven attempts, and allowed one unfortunate goal to the leading point getter in TCU history.

Leading the offense for the Lady Demons is senior Meghan Hunter who collected an assist against Southern Mississippi to up her season point total to eight.

Freshman Alex Petermann continues to be a surprise for the Lady Demons this season as she has scored two goals with one assist.

Following Friday's game, Northwestern State will not be in action again until September 30 when it opens conference play at home against defending league champion Southeastern Louisiana.