NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State women's soccer team will need to pull out road wins in 2016 if the Lady Demons are to accomplish their goals of qualifying for the Southland Conference Tournament and competing for a league title.

NSU will play 11 of its 19 regular season matches on the road, including six of its 11 SLC contests as coach George Van Linder announced the 2016 schedule Wednesday.
"It is always a challenge playing on the road, but our squad is finally older with a dozen players on the roster being juniors and seniors," said NSU coach George Van Linder. "The conference tournament is on the road, so despite the schedule being a little lopsided with away games, I feel like our team is mature enough to handle it. It will prepare us for the conference tournament."

After NSU heads to Texas Christian for an exhibition Aug. 10, the Lady Demons play their first home match against in-state opponent Louisiana-Lafayette on Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. The match is currently scheduled as an exhibition, but the teams are attempting to move the contest to the opening day of NCAA regular-season play on Aug. 19.

The Lady Demons hit the road for the next three matches at Arkansas-Little Rock (Aug. 19), at Ole Miss (Aug. 21) and at Southern Methodist (Aug. 25).

Ole Miss, who finished the regular season at No. 24, advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.  NSU challenged SMU on the road this past season, trailing 1-0 before the Mustangs scored two goals in the last 10 minutes.

NSU hosts its next two opponents, welcoming Jackson State (Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.) and NAIA-member Texas Wesleyan (Sept. 4 at 1 p.m.) to the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.
Finishing non-conference play on the road, the Lady Demons head to UTSA (Sept. 9) and Texas State (Sept. 11).

"We certainly feel that our non-conference schedule will prepare us for the conference part of the year," said Van Linder, who is entering his fifth season at NSU. "We never really back down from facing teams from bigger conferences, and this season is no exception.

"Our players want to play and beat good teams."

NSU begins its SLC slate by hosting reigning regular season champion Stephen F. Austin (5 p.m.), whom the Lady Demons tied in Nacogdoches, Texas, this past season.
The Lady Demons travel to Lamar (Sept. 23) and McNeese (Sept. 25) before finishing their September schedule at home against Abilene Christian. (Sept. 30^th at 7 p.m.).
NSU closes out the two-game homestand by hosting Incarnate Word on Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.

The Lady Demons will pack their bags for a three-game league road trip, beginning Oct. 7 at Sam Houston State. NSU will hang out in Texas for two more games, heading to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Oct. 14) and Houston Baptist (Oct. 16),

NSU finishes its home schedule with in-state foes Nicholls (Oct. 21, 7 p.m.) and Southeastern (Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.). Southeastern won the SLC Tournament and participated in the NCAA Tournament this past season.

The Lady Demons travel for the regular season finale at Central Arkansas on Oct. 28.

The SLC Tournament begins Nov. 3 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with the top six teams in conference play earning a spot.