NATCHITOCHES—Northwestern State aims to bounce back when it comes home when it welcomes Southeastern Louisiana to the Demon Soccer Complex on Thursday to begin an action-packed homecoming weekend.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+ if fans cannot come to the game in person.

"It should be another good game," head coach Ian Brophy said. "They're off to a hot start to conference play with two wins and a tie. We know it will be a really tough game and we know we'll have to go in and fight for a win and do all the little details we're working on in practice and getting things right and if we do that, then hopefully we can protect home field and come away with a big three points."

The Demons are honoring former player Heather Penico, the 2005 Southland Conference Player of the Year, who led the Demons to the NCAA Tournament and is being inducted into the N-Club Hall of Fame on Saturday, the sixth member of the soccer program to be inducted.

She joins Britiany Cargill, Erin Hebert, Holly Horn Broussard, Hillarie Marshall Coleman and Missy Payne Howe.

"Seeing these former athletes just goes to show you the history of this program that has won five Southland championships," Brophy said. "It shows the program's traditional success here, fighting for titles year in and year out, so it is great to see these ladies get recognized. I was really happy to see Hillarie get recognized last year, so we are really looking forward to Heather being recognized this year."

It is also alumni night, as seven former NSU athletes are making the return to the Soccer Complex.

This year's NSU (6-3-3) team is coming off a heartbreaking 1-0 loss at Houston Christian, despite out-shooting the Huskies 17-7.

This match is the first meeting between the two schools since a classic SLC Tournament match that ended with a Taylor Spitzer goal in overtime off a corner kick to win 2-1.

The Demons were behind until Paige Baumgartner connected with Dawson Marrs on a goal with less than 20 minutes left to tie the game.

The Demons and Lady Lions (3-4-3, 2-0-1) are no strangers to tight contests against one another.

NSU and SLU have clashed in epic contests in recent times, as 11 of the last 12 contests have been decided by no more than one goal, including last season's tournament game and the Lady Lions 2-1 win in Hammond during last year's regular season.
NSU has been locking down opponents during a 10-game stretch, as the Demons have allowed just four goals during those 10 and NSU has allowed no more than one goal in any of them.

"I am really tight with all of my defenders," Sophia Minnillo said. "We've forged a great bond on the field, which makes us so good, and we not only have a great bond on the field, but we're also great friends off of it."

Offensively, freshman Gabriela Page returned from an injury against Prairie View A&M that forced her to miss eight games and quickly made an impact, scoring her first collegiate goal in the 7-0 victory.

In her first two games before the injury against Texas and SMU, she did not record a shot, but she has recorded four shot attempts in her last two.

"I was studying the game a lot when I was out," Page said. "I was seeing where I can fit in with the team and what they need and that was my focus during practice. Once I realized that I think I can help the offense, it was something that I could help the team with in practice and then bring it onto the field and help the team win."

SLU has started out league play undefeated, beating UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and tying Stephen F. Austin.

Following the match, NSU is off until Oct. 9 when the Demons host AMCC before heading on the road against East Texas A&M on Oct. 12.