HOUSTON – Following a tough road loss at Prairie View A&M Friday evening, the Northwestern State soccer team wraps up its first road trip of the season with arguably its toughest challenge to date.

NSU (0-2-1) opens a three game Group of Five slate with a noon kick at Rice's (3-0) Holloway Field. The match will be streamed live on CUSA TV. The Lady Demons then return home for a four-match home stretch which includes Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Monroe.

The 2020-2021 Conference-USA champion and eventual Sweet 16 paricipant Owls welcome the Lady Demons with a defense which has only allowed one goal through their first three matches.

"There's never going to be an easy game at this level," head coach Stuart Gore said. "I expect Rice is going to be a difficult matchup for us, just as SMU was.  

"Coach (Brian) Lee has done an excellent job since taking over the program (at Rice) and had a run at the national tournament last year. I expect them to challenge us considerably, and we welcome it."

The last line of defense for NSU, Southland goalkeeper of the year Acelya Aydogmus has logged a career high 21 saves through her first three games, a figure which also includes her one season at Troy before transferring to Northwestern State.

No strangers to competing within the Houston Metro area, senior Tomball graduates Nicole and Natalee Henry welcome the opportunity to play in front of their family once again.

"It's good to be back home, because our parents haven't been able to see a lot of our games this past year, Nicole Henry said. "But this weekend, we'll be close to home and get to see them which will be nice."    

NSU's Louisiana Tech home opener is scheduled for Wednesday with a 7 p.m. kick.