NATCHITOCHES—For the first time in the month of October, the Northwestern State soccer team plays in front of the home crowd when it welcomes Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday in the annual Fork Cancer game at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.

Kickoff for the Southland Conference match is at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Patrick Netherton and former NSU soccer player Kyle Nolen on the call.

To donate to the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center campaign, people can text "ForkCancer" to 41444.

NSU (4-10 overall, 2-5 SLC) enters coming off a close loss on the road against in-state rival McNeese, one in which the Lady Demons outshot the Cowgirls 13-7, including 9-2 in shots on goal.

McNeese was also the last game NSU played in front of the home crowd, a 2-0 loss Sept. 30, and the team is looking forward to playing at home after three straight games away from Natchitoches.

"It is relieving to be back home and play in front of the home crowd," Julia Pinho Magno said. "It is nice not having to worry about travel and stuff like you do for road games."

NSU is in the mix for a sixth consecutive trip to the SLC Tournament, tied with UIW and Houston Christian for sixth place in the conference. Seven of the nine teams in the league make it to the conference tournament, which takes place the first week of November in Corpus Christi, Texas.

TAMUCC (7-5-3, 4-2-1) is playing its best soccer of the season, having won three in a row and is coming off a big win at Texas A&M-Commerce, handing the Lions their first conference loss.

"They're a very talented team and very deep," first-year head coach Ian Brophy said. "They're another really good team and their record is sneaky. They are very dangerous with a number of good players and make things happen on the offensive end of the field and that shows with the type of results they have picked up recently. We know we're in for a tough game."

NSU is 7-3-1 all-time against TAMUCC, but 3-2 in Natchitoches. The Lady Demons have won three in a row in the series and has not lost in the series since 2019. In last year's contest, NSU overcame an Islanders goal one minute into the game and came away with a 2-1 road victory.

In the win, Hilliard scored her first collegiate goal to tie the game in the first half before Hallie Field tallied the winner in the 66^th minute.

The shot edge against McNeese was a big development for the offense, even if the goals didn't come. NSU has scored nine goals this year but has been able to create chances. While creating chances is a positive, NSU knows it needs to convert on those opportunities.

"We need to finish the chances we create," Jessica Spitzer said. "We also need to be stronger defensively, as we are letting in goals we should not be letting in. We just have to clean up everything, but we have the tools to improve. We need to just fine-tune everything, so we get the results we're looking for."

Jessica Spitzer's twin sister Taylor Spitzer is the leading scorer for the Lady Demons, leading the team in goals (4), points (8), shots (33) and shots on goal (14).

Redshirt freshman Riley Stern provided a spark off the bench for NSU in the loss to McNeese, creating a pair of chances late in the first half, forcing the keeper to make two impressive saves.

Following the match, NSU honors three players as it plays its final contest in front of the home fans Oct. 22 when it hosts Houston Christian on Senior Day before wrapping up the regular season at Nicholls on Oct. 27.