NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State soccer team opens one the toughest weekend road trips of its season on Friday when it plays second place Abilene Christian at noon at the Wildcat Soccer Complex before it has to square off with McNeese State on Sunday for a 4:00 kick time at Cowgirl Field.
 
NSU is 3-9-1 on the season and 0-4-1 in Southland Conference play, and the ACU (6-6-1, 3-1-1 SLC) matchup is the third contest of a five-game road swing for the Lady Demons.  
 
Both Abilene Christian and Northwestern State come in after taking Sunday off and only played on the Friday before.  NSU lost to Sam Houston 4-1 and ACU tied Central Arkansas 2-2.
 
Each team boasts a top five league leader in points.  Esdeina Gonzalez, who has 15 points on seven goals and one assist, leads NSU and is fourth in the Southland Conference. Baylee Mitchell has 14 points on seven goals, and she leads ACU and ranks fifth in the league.
 
Julia Ranalli (7), Yanci Johnson (6) and Nikki Saunders (6) also lead the Lady Demons in points.  Tiffany Ysassi has seven points for ACU this, and Lindsey Jones, who has six, follows her.
 
ACU has played two goalkeepers this season; Kesley Dombrowski has played in eight games while Sydney Newton has been in nine.  Newton leads the two with 652 minutes played between the pipes. She has a 1.38 goals against average and a .815 saves percentage.
 
Alex Latham has taken over for the Lady Demons between the pipes and has a 2.74 goals against average and a .606 saves percentage.
 
Abilene holds conference wins over Sam Houston (3-2), Nicholls (3-0) and Southeastern Louisiana (2-1).  Northwestern State's tie was a 1-1 score against Houston Baptist.
 
Northwestern State will round out the five-game road trip with Nicholls on Oct. 17 and return to the Lady Demon Soccer Complex two days later to host Southeastern Louisiana.  The final three regular season games will be at home.