CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—The last time Northwestern State battled Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Demons emerged with the victory in penalty kicks in the 2023 Southland Conference Tournament.

The two teams return to the same field as the Demons (7-6-2, 3-2-1) travel to face the Islanders (5-3-5, 2-1-2) in a big matchup as the regular season winds down.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Dr. Jack Dugan Soccer and Track & Field Stadium.

Emme' Fernandez played the role of hero last time around against AMCC, scoring in both regulation and the clincher in penalty kicks, as Northwestern State won 4-2 in penalty kicks after tying 1-1 after regulation and the two overtime periods.

Overall, the Demons are unbeaten against the Islanders in the last six meetings, going 4-0-2 in those six.

Northwestern State is riding a red-hot offense that has found the back of the net in 10 consecutive games, the most consecutive contests with a goal in the same season since 2003 and most overall since scoring in 13 straight games spanning the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

While the Demons have scored early in games, they are aiming to keep the pressure on offensively, to put the game out of reach.

"The goal for us is to keep playing the same way and not have that let-up or to think we've done our job when we score a goal," head coach Ian Brophy said. "We need to keep up the same intensity in the same way. We just need to keep the ball and play our futbol and that will lead to good results."

Last time out, Northwestern State had chances to put more than one goal on the board but scored one in the loss to Texas A&M-Commerce.
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"I definitely think we just need to follow through with our chances and taking those gambling chances as well," Kassi Schoen said. "We'll need to keep the high intensity up and follow through with those chances and we'll get the results we want."

Emily Senatore leads the way for the Demons offense, scoring a team-high six goals and three in SLC play, including two in the 4-1 win at McNeese. Taylor Spitzer also has found the back of the net three times in league play, doing so in the first four games of SLC action.

In last year's meeting, Senatore tallied her first career goal, which gave the Demons a two-goal advantage in a 2-0 victory.

In addition to Senatore scoring her first collegiate goal in 2023, defender Caroline Hilliard did so in 2022 off a free kick in a 2-1 win in Corpus Christi.

On defense, the Demons aim to be back to their dominant defense. Following a seven-game scoreless streak, opponents have scored five times in the last three contests, two each of which came in the two losses.

"We need to make sure we are just playing our game," Isabella Queneau said. "We need to work on focusing on what we can do and what we can control and just focus on the next game."
 
The Islanders defense is among the best defenses in the SLC, despite falling 7-0 last time out against Stephen F. Austin. Outside of allowing seven goals against SFA, the defense has surrendered just 11 goals in 12 contests.

"That was a really weird result in terms of the score," Brophy said. "They have a very good team. Corpus is very good defensively and very good on the ball. We know we are in for a tough game. That last result doesn't reflect who they are as a team and we know we'll have to bring our best game in order to get a good result."

On offense for AMCC, of the eight goal scorers, seven have scored multiple goals, led by Morgan Westbury and Maddy Howells, who each have three.

AMCC also has former Demon Faith Adams on the team.

Last season, Adams missed both meetings due to injury. She is a part of Demons history, as her goal in the 62nd minute of the SLC Tournament title game in 2021—in Corpus Christi—earning Northwestern State its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2005.

In her two years in Natchitoches, she appeared in 19 matches. Adams attempted 10 shots in the 19 games with four being on target in the two years.

Following the match, Northwestern State returns home for its final two games at the Demon Soccer Complex in the regular season, playing against Lamar (Oct. 25) and UTRGV (Oct. 27).