NATCHITOCHES—Coming off one of its best performances of the season, Northwestern State comes back home for its final two games at Demon Soccer Complex this season, which starts Thursday against in-state rival McNeese in a battle between two of the top four teams in the Southland Conference.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

NSU (9-3-3, 4-1-1) moved into first place with 13 points with the 3-1 victory this past Sunday against East Texas A&M and now turns its attention to a red-hot McNeese (4-8-3, 3-2-1) team that has won three of its last four and is tied for third in the conference standings (10).

"It's going to be a really tough game," head coach Ian Brophy said. "They're hot right now and nipping at our heels in the conference race for a reason. They have obviously played well, so we are in for a tough game, and we will need to make sure we will need to be on top of all the little details and that has been our recipe to success."

The Demons have scored multiple goals in the last three games, including the three against East Texas A&M. This past weekend, NSU found the back of the net five times, showing its depth as in addition to an own goal scored against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the other four goals were scored by four different players.

One of those was from Emily Senatore, who scored her 22^nd career goal and 11^th this season. Her 22 goals ties April Trowbridge for ninth in school history.

Senatore also was credited with a game-winning goal, her sixth such goal this season, which tied for tops in the country and is second in program history to Olivia Draguicevich's seven set in 2021.

Another goal scorer was Marissa Henderson, who sealed the victory against East Texas A&M with her first collegiate tally.

While the offense has come on strong down the stretch of the regular season, the defense has been lights out once again.

After surrendering just one shot on goal in victories over Southeastern Louisiana and AMCC, the Demons slowed down an offense featuring two of the best scorers in the SLC.

"We're not focused on how many shots we give up as much as the type of chances we give up," Brophy said. "Right now, I think we've been strong. We've been strong in keeping possession and part of that is winning the ball back.

"All 11 players have really helped, but the back line has been a really strong unit entirely and that has led to a lot of our success in controlling possession and a lot of that starts defensively."

Paige Baumgartner scored her fifth goal of the season in the win over East Texas A&M, giving her 11 points this season, the fourth Demon to reach double figures in points this season, the most such players to accomplish that feat in one season 2022.

"Having so many players score this past weekend just shows you that we don't rely on just person to score goals," Henderson said. "We all contribute and work hard to help getting the outcome we want to."

Henderson received aid on the goal from Bailey Porter, as Porter earned the corner kick that led to Henderson's game-sealing goal.

Whenever Porter comes on, she is a bundle of energy.  She played 25 minutes, her most since logging 37 against Prairie View A&M on Sept. 25 and made every minute count.

The sophomore from Allen, Texas, takes pride in making an impact off the bench.

"I just want to make as big of an impact as I can when I am on the field," Porter said. "I am just trying to make the most out of every opportunity that I can."

The Cowgirls have won two in a row and three of four, including a monster win this past Sunday at home against Lamar.

McNeese's defense has posted two consecutive shutouts, as goalkeeper Celeste Marijnissen, allowing just one goal in those two games to earn SLC Goalkeeper of the Week.

Freshman Rhiannon Maynes-Tourond has five goals to lead the McNeese offense, as she is the only player to have scored more than two goals this season.

Next up for the Demons is the home finale against UIW on Sunday before heading on the road for the final two against Lamar (Oct. 23) and Nicholls (Oct. 26).