NATCHITOCHES – Defense has been the focus of the Northwestern State soccer program so far in the early season.
 
But the Lady Demons (2-1) showed offensive promise in a 1-0 win at ULM this past week.
 
NSU will need to piece together its offensive progress with its defensive prowess when Texas State visits Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be played on Byrd High School's turf field because of rain generated from Tropical Storm Harvey.
 
"Texas State is a well-coached program, and head coach Kat Conner has been there forever," said NSU head coach George Van Linder. "It's important for us to build on what we've done and continue to focus on our attack.
 
"We hope the weather plays out, and we get on the right side of the scoreboard."
 
NSU has two shutouts in its two wins, besting LSU Shreveport 12-0 and ULM 1-0.
 
The Lady Demons' lone loss came in 8-0 fashion at Ole Miss.
 
"We're excited about the defensive performance against ULM after giving up early goals at Ole Miss," Van Linder said. "We looked back at the film, and we had lots of little things that we could correct.
 
"It's good to see our players focused, and we corrected some of that."
 
Goalkeeper Alex Latham logged her first solo shutout of the season after she combined on a shutout with redshirt freshman Kayla Bomben against LSUS.
 
Senior defender Sage Leffew said a versatile defense aided in a defensive bounceback.
 
"We have a lot of defenders who can multiple positions, and it meant a lot to come back from the Ole Miss game," Leffew said. "We had to recompose and make sure everybody still had faith in us.
 
"With all the experience we have back there, everybody should be able to step up and hold down the fort."
 
Texas State (0-2-1) is still searching for its first win after falling to Southland Conference member Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2-1 this past week.
 
The Bobcats tied Louisiana Tech 1-1 and fell to Northern Arizona 2-0 earlier this season.
 
An NSU win would reverse the Lady Demons recent fortunes in the series. Texas State is 8-0-1 since the Lady Demons last win in 2005, dating back to the Bobcats' membership in the Southland Conference.
 
Texas State won in San Marcos, Texas, 1-0 last year.
 
Continued offensive improvement will be key for an offense that produced quality chances against ULM.
 
"We haven't really worked offense yet in practice, so it's good to see that we created different things up top (against ULM)," said junior forward April Trowbridge. "We have to make sure that we finish those chances and take those shots around the box.
 
"We kind of tweaked stuff in practice to find the right fit and balance for this year's team. We have to make sure we have fun with the ball when we get it."