DALLAS—Even on the road, Northwestern State will feel right at home.

Twelve NSU (1-0-1) women's soccer players will be coming home when it travels to No. 15 SMU on Sunday for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium.

"We always joke that playing against SMU is kind of a home game for us," NSU women's soccer coach Stuart Gore said. "SMU is a private school, so most of their roster is from all over the place. I think we have the biggest Dallas contingent, so it is always great to see the families and hang out with them."

Of the 12 players who are on the team with hometowns within 40 miles of Dallas, 10 of them have a hometown within 30 miles of Texas' third largest city.

One of those 12, Sam Hanking, scored the biggest goal of her career last time out. The Flower Mound native tallied a goal with 17 seconds left to earn a 1-1 tie with Arkansas State off an assist from Allen native Taylor Spitzer, also one of those 12 playing close to home against SMU.

The team will be going over to the house of Flower Mound native Delaney Wells while there, as they prepare to face the Mustangs.

"My mom is really excited," Wells said. "She's really happy that everyone will be over at the house and see the team."

In addition to Hanking, Spitzer and Wells, Madison Murphy (Frisco), Jessica Spitzer (Allen), Riley Stern (Fort Worth), Caroline Hilliard (Corinth), Faith Adams (Maypearl), Emily Mougia (Sachse), Scooter Kozeny (Frisco), Hallie Field (Frisco) and Jayme Haynes (Frisco) will also all be playing near their hometowns.

"I think this game is more special than others since all my friends are going to go and watch me play," Taylor Spitzer said. "It is a big game for me and it's a big game for our team since the team lost there last season."

The Lady Demons have scored five goals in the regular season, all of which have been scored by different players. Ten players scored at least one goal for NSU in its regular season championship season of 2021.

Freshman Paige Armstrong leads NSU in points with three, which all came in the season opener at Louisiana Tech. Five players have two points, including Taylor Spitzer, who has recorded a pair of assists.

At goalkeeper, Chloe DeShazer has played well, stopping seven shots and registering a goals against average of just 1.00 so far.

SMU (1-0-1) is also coming off a 1-1 tie, doing so on the road against then-No. 11 Tennessee.

In their first game, the Mustangs spotted Rice an early goal, but came back to win 2-1 at home.

"Once again, they'll be a really tough team, just like last year," Gore said. "They just tied a top team in Tennessee. I will get to see (SMU assistant and former UIW coach) Emma (Wright-Cates), so that will be really nice.

"We had a goal disallowed there last season, so I know the girls would like to put one on the board if they can."

Courtney Sebazco comes in leading the offense for SMU, recording three points on the season, including the game-winning goal in the 66^th minute to knock off Rice.

Samantha Estrada is a brick wall in goal for SMU, stopping 13 shots this season, including nine in the tie at Tennessee on Aug. 21. She has started both games and has an .867 save percentage.

NSU wraps up its four-game road swing at Grambling on Sept. 4 before it heads back to Natchitoches for the home opener against Jackson State on Sept. 9, which begins a three-game home stand.