NATCHITOCHES -- Northwestern State's offense has found its groove in the early season, scoring 12 goals through its first five games.
 
But there's a trend the Lady Demons hope to break Friday when they welcome Southern to the Lady Demon Soccer Complex for a 7 p.m. match.
 
All 12 NSU goals have occurred in Sunday matches (all three wins), while the Lady Demons have been held scoreless in its first two Friday matches.
 
NSU (3-2) poured it on ULM with a season-high five goals, three coming from Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week Brittany Caserma.
 
"We've got a lot of great players offensively, and we've been working really hard on shooting in practice," said Caserma, who used muscle and hustle to score two of her goals Sunday. "We're getting better at playing off one another.
 
"We're still working toward getting better through balls and connecting with each other better on the field. But the talent is definitely there, and we're getting better all the time."
 
Fans in attendance could catch a free Purple Reign T-Shirt to wear when the football team welcomes Grambling to Turpin Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
The Lady Demon faithful could see more offensive fireworks Friday as the offense has scored nine goals in its last two games.
 
Southern (1-3-2) has allowed 15 goals in its first six matches, but the Jaguars picked up their first win of the season 2-0 against NAIA member Huston-Tillotson.
 
NSU co-head coach Jess Jobe said what's most impressive about his offense is the number of players involved.
 
Eight different players have at least one goal led by seniors April Trowbridge and Caserma with three goals each. Four different players have assists led by freshman Jalen Donaldson (three) and Trowbridge (two).
 
"It's always a good sign to see a lot of different names on the scoresheet," Jobe said. "We're getting contributions and goals from a lot of different players.
 
"Freshmen are coming on and contributing. Teams have to figure out how to stop us in a variety of ways to figure out how to limit us.
 
But NSU's main focus this weekend will be on the defensive end as the Lady Demons are aiming for its first shutout of the season.
NSU has held two teams -- UTSA and UL Lafayette -- to one goal each, both of which occurred in losses.
 
The defense has limited all five opponents to 12 or fewer shots, but Jobe said it's "a couple of moments" in games that he's trying to fix.
 
"We're not particularly pleased with the goals we gave up (against ULM)," Jobe said. "We always want to be a tough team to score on, and we've got things to work on there.
 
"We've had to move a lot of pieces around in the back line, and it's important to have some consistency there. We need all four to be on the page at the same time -- but all it is is a couple of lapses in concentration or communication. The good news is that it's little things that are fixable."
 
Generally, NSU has posted strong defensive numbers with no team taking more than six shots on goal. UTSA and the Ragin' Cajuns took a combined six shots on goal in NSU's losses.
 
Freshman defender Nicole Henry has started all five games in the back line along with fellow freshman Kalee Williams. Seniors Ysmina Smith and Olivia Marazzo bring experience, but Marazzo's first season of starting has been marred by injury.
 
Henry said the unit is coming along each and every week.
 
"I've been working on communicating better myself, and as a whole, we're trying to give more information to each other during the game," Henry said. "At first, it was a little scary because I didn't know them, but now it's getting easier.
 
"It's been really exciting to have new experiences and meet new people."
 
For fans who can't watch in person, a paid live video stream is available at nsudemons.com. Fans can follow the action for free via live stats (nsudemons.com) or on Twitter (@NSUDemonsSOC). NSU's new mobile app is also available for download on Apple or Android devices.
 
NSU continues its home stand Sunday against Jackson State at 1 p.m.