JACKSON, Mississippi -- The Northwestern State soccer team will attempt to build on improved second halves as the Lady Demons embark on a Southwestern Athletic Conference road trip to Jackson State on Friday and Mississippi Valley State on Sunday.
 
NSU (2-3) plays at Jackson State (0-6) at 3 p.m. Friday followed by a 1 p.m. contest at MVSU (1-3).
 
The Lady Demons are attempting to recover from losses this past week to Texas State (3-2 loss in double overtime) and UL Lafayette (2-0 loss).
 
"With our team, we're putting things together and fine tuning -- taking care of those little details," said NSU coach George Van Linder. "We had great moments in both games, unfortunately we paid for a couple of little mistakes here and there.
 
"We'll get there with (Southland Conference) play starting next week, and it's good that we're sorting those little things out now."
 
NSU scored two goals in the last 12 minutes of regulation to force overtime against Texas State. The Lady Demons did most of their offensive work against the Ragin' Cajuns in the second half despite allowing both of ULL's goals after halftime.
 
Sophomore midfielder Jayden Wheeler said NSU has made improvements in the second halves this season compared to last season.
 
"We weren't considered a second-half team last year, so having strong second halves is nice to see with conference season starting soon," Wheeler said. "Second halves are hard because everybody is getting tired, but it's exciting to see strong second halves from us.
 
"The whole team is looking forward to practicing on our grass after working on turf all preseason because of the rain. Our goal is to come out with two wins this weekend before we dive into conference play next week."
 
The soccer team can count on one hand the number of times they've practiced on their natural grass field because of excessive rain.
 
NSU played its home opener in Natchitoches before moving the Texas State game to Shreveport because of wet conditions.
 
The Lady Demons have practiced on the turf surface at Turpin Stadium, but Van Linder said all of the region's teams have been affected by an unusually rainy August.
 
"It's not ideal, but everybody's had to deal with it, and we have to move forward," Van Linder said. "Good teams are good on the road, and this is an opportunity to get better."
NSU has played four of its five games away from its home stadium, going 1-3 in those contests.
 
The Lady Demons have beaten Jackson State each of the last two years by a combined score of 7-0, improving their all-time record against the Tigers to 7-0.
 
NSU is 22-1 all-time against SWAC schools.
 
Jackson State is 0-3 against Southland Conference opponents this season, falling to Southeastern, 5-0, Sam Houston State, 8-0 and Nicholls 3-0.