NATCHITOCHES – Natalee and Nicole Henry's Northwestern State soccer careers have been underscored by vast levels of success, fueled by a desire for validation in the form of a Southland championship title.

As the first place Lady Demons (9-4-2, 9-1-0 SLC) hit the road in preparation for their final road match of the regular season on Tuesday at Houston Baptist (4-12-1, 4-7 SLC), both twin seniors Natalee and Nicole Henry feel the weight of each upcoming match leading into the postseason.

"We know how important this is, especially for the seniors," Natalee Henry said. "We were so close (in 2019) when we made it to the final round against Lamar, and now we're once again in a position to make another run. We just have to slow down, collect ourselves, and keep fighting towards it."

NSU soccer has been chasing its first Southland Conference Tournament title since 2005. Having come close the past two seasons—falling in the 2019 championship match against Lamar, followed by a quarterfinal elimination in penalty kicks to eventual 2020 champion Southeastern Louisiana—the Lady Demons have been on the cusp of bringing home Northwestern State's first tournament trophy since baseball won it all in 2018.  

Despite the majority of NSU's current senior class having been recruited by one coach and developed under two others, the changes in regime have done little to slow the progression of the Henry twins, and their prominence on the pitch for the Lady Demons. Since the beginning of their NSU careers, both Nicole and Natalee Henry have served as anchors to a Lady Demon defensive third that has proven over multiple seasons to be one of the best in program history.

Nicole Henry, the current reigning two-time Southland Conference Defender of the Year, has been the cornerstone to an NSU back line that has logged an earth shattering 18 shutouts since the start of the spring 2020 season. Her efforts in the 2020 season contributed to NSU finishing with the 15^th best shutout percentage in the nation (.643), a program record.

Natalee Henry, a two-time honorable mention All-Louisiana selection has made her career playing a mixture of offensive and defensive roles for NSU. She has spent the majority of the 2021 season serving up in the formation as an attacker, and currently holds the second most points of the roster with four goals and four assists on the season, including a game winner against Incarnate Word on Oct. 17.

As both Natalee and Nicole Henry were preparing to graduate from Klein Oak High School in North Houston, both were coveted by former NSU head coach George Van Linder, and both knew NSU was going to be their home.

"We got asked by our club coach about where we had thought about going for college and he told us a bit about George, who had previously coached here at NSU," Natalee Henry said. "We took a chance and made the trip to Natchitoches together, and it just felt right."

Since then, the senior class has bonded around one another in a way that has strengthened not only Nicole and Natalee Henry's attachment to the team, but also has formed a core around which the rest of the roster can continue to grow and strengthen itself.

"Our level of communication with one another -- being in the locker room before matches, and just getting into one another's heads – has been a big part of what has attracted me to this program," Nicole Henry said.

With the program's first regular season title since 2000 and positioning in the impending conference tournament on the line Tuesday in Houston, the Lady Demons have kept their energy at a fever pitch through the final stages of their regular season.

"We're just really excited, knowing the place we're at now and the work we've put in it get here," Nicole Henry said. "We're all incredibly pumped for this chance we have coming up, and we are definitely ready."