NATCHITOCHES—A new season brings new challenges for the Northwestern State soccer team, as a pair of teams enter the Southland Conference.

The SLC expanded to 11 soccer teams in the offseason, as it added Texas-Rio Grande Valley and a familiar program to the conference, Stephen F. Austin, which comes back to the conference after three seasons in the WAC.

NSU plays all 10 conference opponents once for a 10-game league slate.

Heading into his second season at the helm, head coach Ian Brophy once again challenges his team in the non-conference portion of the schedule, playing a pair of SEC opponents as well as an ACC newbie.

Prior to the regular season, NSU welcomes Southern to the Lady Demon Soccer Complex for a scrimmage on Aug. 8.

Including the exhibition, NSU has 10 games in front of the home crowd. In the regular season, the team has four non-conference home contests, compared to the two it had in 2023.

While NSU has four home games in the non-conference portion, it opens the regular season with four straight away from Natchitoches.

The Lady Demons begin the season with a trip to SMU on Aug. 15, the first regular season game for the Mustangs as a member of the ACC.

NSU continues its road trip with visits to SEC foes Mississippi State (Aug. 18) and Arkansas (Aug. 25).

It is the second consecutive season NSU travels to MSU after the Bulldogs emerged with a 3-0 victory in Starkville in 2023.

The only other meeting with Arkansas came in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, a 5-1 victory for the Razorbacks.

NSU's final game of the road trip comes at UL Lafayette on Aug. 29.

Following the lengthy journey on the road, NSU comes home for five out of its next six to begin the month of September.

Four of the five home contests are non-conference matches against former SLC foe Abilene Christian (Sept. 1), Jackson State (Sept. 6), Tarleton State (Sept. 12) and Mississippi Valley State (Sept. 15).

Splitting up the home games is a road trip to Alabama A&M on Sept. 8.

Like in 2023, NSU begins conference action at home, playing the same team it finished last season's regular season against—Nicholls on Sept. 22.

That is followed by three consecutive on the road against UIW (Sept. 29) and two against in-state rivals, McNeese (Oct. 4) and Southeastern Louisiana (Oct. 6).

The final four home games of the season come in a five-game stretch in October, starting with a visit from Houston Christian on Oct. 11.

NSU also welcomes Texas A&M-Commerce (Oct. 13), Lamar (Oct. 25) and conference newcomer UT-Rio Grande Valley (Oct. 27) to Natchitoches.

Splitting up the home dates is a trip to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 18 for a rematch of a classic tournament game from last season.

NSU concludes the regular season with a road game at Stephen F. Austin, as the Lady Demons finish the season with the two SLC newcomers.

For the second consecutive season, the SLC heads to Corpus Christi for the conference tournament, as NSU posted another tournament semifinal appearance in 2023, marking the fourth time in five seasons it has accomplished that.