ABILENE, Texas -- If the Southland Conference soccer tournament started today, Northwestern State wouldn't be making the trip.


Thankfully for NSU, eight of the 11 conference matches have yet to be played. But the Lady Demons (3-6-2, 0-2-1 SLC) head into a road trip beginning Friday at Abilene Christian (2-7-2, 1-1-1 SLC) well out of the top six spots that qualify for the tournament.


Those six teams have at least six points in the standings (three points for a win, one for a tie), and NSU is sitting in a tie for 10^th in the 12-team league with one point.


"For the last few years, it's all about the points at the end of games," said NSU coach George Van Linder, the fourth-year head coach who's trying to take the program to its first conference tournament since 2008. "The last few years we had to run and panic at the end, and no one wants to do that.


"We need to get points and results. We are a little behind right now, but it's not time to press the panic button. At the same time, we're not in the position we wanted to be in."


Abilene's overall record isn't impressive, but some of its close losses are. The Wildcats fell to Texas 2-1 in a recent match and are 1-2-1 in their last four matches.


NSU has had some impressive results as well, including a tie of LSU and a Stephen F. Austin as well as playing a then-No. 5 Texas A&M squad scoreless for the last 60 minutes of a match.


Twenty-four of the 31 Lady Demons are freshmen or sophomores, but Van Linder said the experience these young players have by now is a reason why youth isn't an excuse.


"Eighteen of the 23 goals we've scored this season are by freshmen, and I'm proud of that impact," Van Linder said. "I don't want to rely on using a 'young team' as an excuse.


"We have older players who are determined to do bigger and better things. We're not going to let age be a factor in our decision. We're going to push forward and play like a mature team that has freshmen contributing."


Five of NSU's top six goal scorers are freshmen, led by forwards Kayleigh Phillips and Brittany Caserma with four goals each.  Those four goals are tied for ninth among SLC leading scorers.


Caserma scored NSU's lone goal in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to McNeese in which she collided with the Cowgirls goalkeeper.


"You have to sacrifice some things for a goal sometimes, and this week, it was my face," said Caserma, who has a large gash on her chin. "Our offense is creating chances because we work on it a lot in practice.


"But it's obviously very frustrating that we haven't put the ball in the back of the net more. The opportunities are there, we just have to work on finishing those."


Caserma, freshman forward Jacqueline Manza (three goals overall) and sophomore forward Esdeina Gonzalez (two goals overall) contributed NSU's three goals in three conference matches.


Abilene ranks 10^th in the Southland Conference in goals allowed with 24 this season – an average of 2.18 in its 11 matches.


NSU has been a little better defensively, allowing 17 goals in 11 matches (1.55 per contest).


The Lady Demons continue to feature a goalkeeping tandem in senior Brooke Bourbonais and sophomore Alex Latham.


Latham ranks sixth in the conference with a 1.44 goals against average with Bourbonais right behind her at 1.45. Latham's save percentage of .795 is fourth-best in the league.


Junior Patry Carrion returned to the starting lineup Sunday after a hamstring injury forced her to miss a 3-1 loss to Lamar on Friday.


Carrion rejoins a unit that features starters Allison Palomo, Amy Renteria and Ysmina Smith as well as Sage Leffew and Maja Lambertsson.


"At the very beginning, I wasn't comfortable because it was a new team," said Smith, a freshman. "I was scared to mess up, and I didn't want to make any mistakes that could easily lose me that spot.


"But now we're more adjusted to each other, the chemistry is there, and I feel more comfortable knowing that they have my back if I do mess up."