NATCHITOCHES – Recent history hasn't been on Northwestern State soccer's side as the Lady Demons attempt to qualify for their first Southland Conference tournament since 2008.
 
But NSU (5-8-3, 2-4-2 SLC) aims to continue one piece of history Friday – the program's dominance over Nicholls (4-9-1, 2-6 SLC).
 
The Lady Demons haven't lost to Nicholls in the program's 24 matches – posting a 23-0-1 all-time record against the Colonels. NSU heads to Nicholls for a 4 p.m. match Friday.
 
"I don't know if the players know about it – it's a well-kept secret," said NSU coach George Van Linder. "We definitely have players that have wins against Nicholls, so from that standpoint, there is confidence.
 
"A player like (sophomore Cache' Haley) had a great game against Nicholls (scoring a goal in a 2-1 win) last year, and we're hoping she can do it again."
 
In the three-year Van Linder era so far, NSU has won three Nicholls matches by a combined 7-2 – although two of those matches have been 2-1 scores.
 
To stay alive in the conference tournament race, ninth-place NSU could use a win being two points out of the tournament picture with three matches to go.
 
"We don't want to have to depend on other results on the final day of the season to make the tournament, and we definitely don't want to feel like we did that day," said junior Camila Ardila, who as a freshman experienced heartbreak when NSU won its final match but had two other results knock them out of the tournament. "We want to knock these games out and win so that we make it to the tournament this year.
 
The top six teams make the conference tournament, and with second-place Abilene Christian ineligible for the postseason in its last year of conference transition, NSU will need to reach seventh to make the tournament.
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-9-2, 3-4-1) and Central Arkansas (6-9-1, 3-4-1) are tied for seventh place, and McNeese State (6-8, 3-5) sits in eighth place.
 
Nicholls is coming off an impressive 2-0 win against Sam Houston State, and the Colonels are led by forward Spencer Valdespino. Valdespino leads the conference with more than five shots per game, and her 10 goals are tied for second in the league.
 
Hannah Savoie and Mie Elvestad each have three goals this season, combining with Valdespino for 16 of Nicholls' 24 goals.
 
NSU's goals have been much more spread out, and senior Cassandra Briscoe took the team lead (five goals) with three goals this past weekend.
 
Sophomore Esdeina Gonzalez (four goals), freshman Brittany Caserma (four), freshman Kayeligh Phillips (four) and freshman Jacqueline Manza (three) are other leaders for a team that's scored a third-best 30 goals in the league.
 
"When we were in a scoring drought a couple of weeks ago, we made some changes and now we're just getting used to the way we're playing," Van Linder said. "We're a little wiser now, and we have to take knowledge from this past weekend and apply it.
"Everything is on the table. The people that have been here for four years, they know what it's about, and we need to give everything that we have."
 
NSU continues its season Sunday at fourth-place Southeastern (9-4-2, 4-3-1) at 1 p.m. before finishing the regular season at home Oct. 30 against Central Arkansas.