CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – As a composed, eager, and hungry Northwestern State soccer team prepared itself for entrance into competition at the Southland Conference Tournament, The Lady Demons' opening opponent was in the process of being decided at the Dr. Jack Dugan Family Soccer and Track Stadium.

The first-seeded Lady Demons (10-5-2, 10-2 SLC) enjoyed the tournament's lone bye in the quarterfinal round and are now set to face off on Friday against fifth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana (7-8-3, 4-5-3 SLC). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be available for subscription viewing via ESPN+.

The Lady Lions advanced by merit of a first round, 1-0 victory over No. 4 Texas A&M – Corpus Christi on Thursday morning -- a match which was initially scheduled to be played at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening, but had to be postponed to the following morning due to lighting issues.
"It's tournament soccer, and anything can happen. SLU hadn't planned on playing today…but you got to roll with the punches and (remain flexible)," said Southland Coach of the Year Stuart Gore.

"Nobody is expecting an easy match tomorrow. Chris (McBride) is a good coach -- he'll have his team well organized and ready to go."

The developing narrative between NSU and Southeastern has centered around a continuing pattern of tight contests between the two teams, neither of which has won against the other by more than a single goal since the 2017 season. Keeping up with the trend, NSU met the current reigning tournament champion Lady Lions in the 2020 tournament quarterfinals just six months prior and fell 4-3 in penalty kicks after going scoreless through regulation.

"Both games (this season) were extremely tight, and then obviously the PKs from last year as well," Gore said. "I expect it to be a chess match tomorrow."

Back-to-back Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Acelya Aydogmus put last season's result in the rearview and is eager for postseason play once again.

"I'm ready," Aydogmus said. "I know that my teammates are ready, and we're going to play our best. We're going to stay focused from the (time we arrive tomorrow) and stay dialed in."

NSU collected a season sweep against SLU in its two regular season matches of the current season, earning 1-0 shutouts in both contests along the way. In the two outings against the Lady Lions, a single game-winning goal was the decider – both of which were scored by Southland Conference Player of the Year Olivia Draguicevich and assisted on by sophomore midfielder Kyle Nolen in the first half, eventually concluding in shutout fashion for the Lady Demons.
 
The decisive goal in NSU's first outing with SLU came in the 27^th minute off of a Nolen corner kick, hunted down and headed in by Draguicevich. Their game winner in the second match fell as a result of a 35^th minute shot attempt by Nolen from outside the 18 which found the crossbar. The subsequent read by Draguicevich on the rebound inside the box ended in another 1-0 halftime lead and eventual win.

"I think we're pretty confident, but at the same time – just like coach said earlier -- we know anything could happen," said Southland Player of the Year Olivia Draguicevich. "We have to trust that we're prepared, trust in each other, and we'll get the job done."

Leading up to postseason play, NSU earned shutout victories in six of its last seven contests before falling 1-0 in the regular season finale against McNeese in the final minute. No. 2 McNeese is slated to play third-seeded Incarnate Word on Friday at 4 p.m. for a spot in the championship round.

"This is what you play the whole season for, to be in the conference tournament," Gore said. "You can tell all of the teams that won yesterday are buzzing to (advance) and it's been good time so far."