NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State forward Esdeina Gonzalez believes the time is now for the Lady Demons to break through to the postseason and compete for a Southland Conference championship.

With nine starters returning and a bevy of role players and newcomers that can contribute, the NSU soccer team will begin its season Friday at Little Rock in a 7 p.m. contest.

"I feel really excited about this team," said Gonzalez, a junior who was selected to the All-SLC Second Team after scoring six goals in 2015. "We were a younger team my first two years, but now it's our time to show what we have and accomplish our goals.

"(In the attack), we have a lot of soccer brains that know what the game is about. I've loved learning their games, and it's going to be fun mixing with their games to see what we can get done together."

Gonzalez will be a marked player by opponents, but NSU is diversifying its offensive options by moving senior Patry Carrion up to forward. Seasoned forwards like junior Cache' Haley and sophomores Brittany Caserma and Jacqueline Manza can pair with newcomer April Trowbridge to create opportunities outside of Gonzalez.

"It's easier to destroy than create," said fifth-year NSU coach George Van Linder. "We have moments where we look really good (on offense), and other days we need to keep working at it.

"For us, we're going to come in and be strong defensively. From there, we have enough creative attacking players to create chances."

NSU finished 5-10-4 in 2015, but the Lady Demons made notable strides that their record didn't reflect. NSU tied LSU 1-1 in Baton Rouge and tied SLC regular season champion Stephen F. Austin, scoring a point against the Lady Jacks for the first time since 2008.

Against the six teams that made the SLC Tournament, NSU recorded a 2-2-2 mark, including a tie of tournament champion Southeastern.

Building on that momentum, junior goalkeeper Alex Latham believes NSU has what it takes to make its first postseason appearance since 2008.

"Being so close last year, it was tough not getting our goal," Latham said. "We have a lot of experience returning this year, and it's exciting to look forward to our season.

"We did very well defensively at TCU (a 1-0 exhibition loss), and we've worked on our shifting and are in tune with each other."

Little Rock finished 2015 with an 8-7-5 mark, including a 3-2-4 Sun Belt Conference mark.

The Trojans battled NSU in recent history, beating the Lady Demons 1-0 in Natchitoches in 2014. NSU split the previous two matches (winning 4-2 in 2011 and tying 3-3 in 2008) as Little Rock holds a narrow edge (5-4-1) in series history.