NATCHITOCHES—To quote Dorothy Gale in the The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."

Following three straight road matches, Northwestern State (0-3) will play its first home contest of the regular season Sunday when in-state foe Louisiana Tech comes marching into Natchitoches. The match will be at 1 p.m.

The Lady Demons finished 7-3 at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex in 2018, including four wins in their final five home contests.

NSU comes in following a 1-0 loss at Grambling on Friday. The Lady Techsters (5-0) have outscored their opponents 26-2 so far in 2019, including a 15-0 drubbing of Alcorn State in their second contest of the season.
Louisiana Tech also defeated Southland conference opponent Southeastern Louisiana 1-0 in its opener.

In last year's meeting the Lady Demons scored three first half goals en route to a 3-2 victory in Ruston.

"We're looking forward to playing at home," co-head coach Jess Jobe said. "It's a local rivalry and going back to last season, it's a game that really set our season on the course. Playing in front of our home crowd is always where we want to be, so we're definitely excited about that."

The Lady Demon defense stood out in the loss to Grambling, only allowing three shots on net. On offense, Olivia Draguicevich and Kiara Padilla lead NSU in goals with one each. They are also 1-2 in shots for the Lady Demons, as Draguicevich leads with five and Padilla has three.

Goalkeeper Acelya Aydogmus had one save against Grambling, and has 14 on the season.

Admission will be free for all fans who come to the game thanks to the sponsorship of the Louisiana Army National Guard. 

After Tech comes to town, the Lady Demons are back on the road for a trip to UL Monroe and Jackson State before coming back to Natchitoches Sept. 13.