RUSTON – The play developed beautifully.

The Northwestern State defense intercepted a UTSA pass, and April Trowbridge crossed in a ball to the feet of Brittany Cecil in front of the goal.

UTSA goalkeeper Michelle Cole made the save in the opening minutes of NSU's 1-0 loss Friday that opened their season, but the opportunity represented the potential of this Lady Demon soccer team and also the developing nature of a squad with 19 freshmen and sophomores.

NSU (0-1) will get another opportunity to finish those chances when the Lady Demons take the pitch again Sunday at Louisiana Tech (1-0) in a 1 p.m. match.

"(Friday) was a great game for us to build on, and we feel pretty good about moving forward to Sunday's match," said NSU co-head coach Jess Jobe. "We have some specifics to work on and we can narrow in on those.

"There were a lot of positives to build off of in the season opener, and we look forward to doing that against Louisiana Tech."

NSU held UTSA without a shot on goal in the first half and created multiple chances to take a lead. The Roadrunners responded in the second half, controlling possession and scoring the game's lone goal.

Now the Lady Demons head to a Louisiana Tech squad fresh off a 2-1, double-overtime win against Sun Belt power Texas State.

NSU faces its second Conference USA opponent of the season after hosting UTSA on Friday.

The Lady Demons are 3-0-1 against Louisiana Tech all-time, but the Lady Techsters are coming off consecutive 14-win seasons under head coach Kevin Sherry.

The last meeting between the teams came in 2007, a 3-0 NSU win.

Eight of NSU's 11 starters Friday were freshmen and sophomores, four of each classification.

Sophomores Alexis Weaver and Ashley Medawattage played the entire 90 minutes with freshman Kalee Williams adding 86 minutes.