NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State soccer's first year head coach Stuart Gore recognized from day one how special the veteran core of his new roster was.

"When I interviewed for the job and met the team, I noticed there was a good group of seniors in there and you could tell that their biggest thing was that they wanted to win," Gore said.

"That's exactly what attracted me to this place – everybody says they like to win, but not everybody says they want to win. And I could tell from the seniors on the interview panel, that they were looking for someone who could help them take the next step."

Following its 1-0 overtime victory at Houston Baptist on Wednesday which secured the program's first conference title since 2000, NSU (10-4-2, 10-1 SLC) will return home on Friday to honor its decorated 2021 senior class. The ceremony will begin following the final match of NSU's regular season schedule with second place McNeese (11-4-2, 8-4-1 SLC), which kicks off at 7 p.m.

Both the evening's match and ceremony will be available for purchase to view at nsudemons.com, and through the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free for Apple and Android devices.

NSU Athletics will honor nine of its soccer seniors – the cornerstone of a Lady Demon roster which has played in three Southland Conference Tournaments, one tournament championship, and tallied a 32-21-3 overall record.  

Those being celebrated are Karleigh Acosta, Acelya Aydogmus, Jalen Donaldson, Natalee and Nicole Henry, Norma Trejo, Kaymi Wheeler, Kalee Williams, and Director of Operations Sydney Normand.

"The senior class on any team is normally your biggest crutch -- they are the strongest and support everybody, and you can definitely say that about this team," head coach Stuart Gore said. "They're super inclusive, and have been so welcoming to the freshmen, bringing them in and teaching them the ropes. They have been exceptional.

"This class is full of leaders, and now they can finally say its full of champions too."

Following their Friday match against McNeese, the Lady Demons will begin taking that next step as they travel to Corpus Christi for the Southland Conference Tournament. By merit of its first place standing, NSU will enjoy a first-round bye before facing the winner of the fourth-fifth seed quarterfinal matchup in the semifinal round on Nov. 5 at 4 p.m.