NATCHITOCHES—Three key contributors are making their final appearance in front of the home crowd, as the Northwestern State soccer team hosts Houston Christian on Sunday for Senior Day.

The Southland Conference match kicks off at 1 p.m. at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex. It will be streamed on ESPN+ with Patrick Netherton and former NSU soccer player Kyle Nolen on the call.

NSU (5-10 overall, 3-5 SLC) will honor Halee Griffin, Mia Dupuis and Emme' Fernandez in a Senior Day ceremony following the conclusion of Sunday's game.

"While I have only been coaching here a year, it is incredible to see the impact made by all three," first-year head coach Ian Brophy said. "It was pretty apparent right away the impact these three have had since my first day here."

Griffin, a native of Hutto, Texas, is coming off a game in which she found the back of the net for the first time as a collegiate in the 2-0 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The goal came in the final minute of the first half to break a scoreless deadlock.

The offense broke out in the victory against AMCC, outshooting the Islanders 22-5, including 8-1 in shots on goal. The 22 shots attempted by NSU were the most taken by the team this season, four more than the previous high of 18 against Alabama A&M.

In the match at McNeese on Oct. 13, the Lady Demons attempted 13 shots, even if none found the back of the net. The shot totals against McNeese and AMCC are two of the top three shot totals in league play for NSU.

In her two seasons, Griffin has appeared in 26 games, starting 13. She transitioned to a midfield role in 2023.

"It is definitely bittersweet," Griffin said. "When you play soccer your entire life, it always ends sometime. You never know how you're going to feel until it gets to that day, but I am really excited to be surrounded by my family and teammates, people who love me and support me."

In her first year with the Lady Demons in 2022, she was a defender and helped lead a back line that held opponents to five or fewer shots in 13 of the 19 games, including 11 of the 12 games in league play. She also recorded an assist in the 6-0 win over Jackson State.

Dupuis, a native of Cankton, Louisiana, is the only player on the team who is from Louisiana. After transferring from LSU-Alexandria prior to the 2022 season, Dupuis tore her ACL. It was a long way back for her, fighting back to play her final season.

She has seen action in 10 games, starting three, including her first official game back in NSU's season opener at North Texas. Dupuis saw a season-high 34 minutes in the shutout win against JSU this season.

"A lot of different emotions will be going through my mind on Senior Day," Dupuis said. "I will be sad since I've been playing for 18 years. Some of it will also be excitement that I'll feel since it is always exciting to be honored. I am hoping I have a good game."

Dupuis is a part of a defense that has surrendered just three shots on goal in the past two games and just two goals. The defense has posted five shutouts in 2023 so far, including three in conference play.

Emme' Fernandez, one of two team captains for the Lady Demons, has played in 34 games, including 20 starts, in her two seasons with NSU. She is one of three field players to appear in and start every game so far this season, joining the Spitzer sisters.

A graduate student from Van Alstyne, Texas, has found the back of the net three times during her NSU career, including scoring a career-high two goals this season, scoring at Jackson State and HCU. She also scored at Texas A&M-Commerce in 2022.

"There will be a lot of emotions for me," Fernandez said. "I love this team and I love my little sister, obviously, since I came here to play with her. It's always been a big piece here to get to play with and be around Sara.

"This whole team is my family. I am super grateful that I have gotten to play here at NSU and have a lot of opportunities that I didn't necessarily get to have at my last school. There will be a lot of emotions and hopefully I can get my whole team and myself to channel those emotions properly and compete for a win."

The contest is the second meeting between the two schools this season, as the Huskies (5-9, 3-5) came from behind to beat NSU 2-1 earlier this month in Houston. The Lady Demons are aiming for some payback as the Huskies controlled the game throughout, outshooting NSU 24-7 overall and 11-3 in shots on goal.

"It isn't so much revenge as much as it is just us wanting to set things right," Brophy said. "I don't think anything crazy happened in that game. It's just that I didn't think we played very well. I think our players are hungry to get the opportunity to set that right and play really well against them.

"We get them at home this time, where we are a little bit more comfortable. We know that if we play to the best of our abilities and play like we did on Sunday that we have a really good shot at winning the game."

Overall in the series, HCU holds a 7-6-1 edge, including a 4-2 mark in Natchitoches.

Following the match, NSU concludes the regular season with a trip to Nicholls on Oct. 27 before starting the conference tournament Nov. 1 in Corpus Christi, if the team reaches the tournament. The Lady Demons are in a tie for sixth with HCU and UIW. Seven teams make it to Corpus for the conference tournament.