THIBODAUX—With a share of the Southland Conference regular season crown locked up, Northwestern State aims to make sure it is the only team that can claim the title.

NSU (11-4-3, 6-2-1) tries to rebound from only its second loss in league play when it travels to Nicholls (4-7-5, 1-3-4) on Thursday, aiming to win the regular season outright, just like it did in 2021.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex.

The Demons have the opportunity to earn their 12^th regular season victory, the most since collecting 13 in 2000.

Despite a 2-0 loss last time out at Lamar, NSU earned at least a piece of the SLC regular season title with Stephen F. Austin's tie at UIW.

"It is always important to look at a loss like we had at Lamar and take a lesson from it and to learn and grow and make sure we don't just ignore it," head coach Ian Brophy said. "We don't want to turn that loss into two and just move past it, but we want to learn the lessons and apply ourselves in training this week and learn and grow from that result and we can use that as something that helps us moving forward."

With SFA's win over Nicholls this past Sunday, the Demons need to earn at least a tie to clinch the title outright.

One strength of the Demons is to overcome adversity and turn a loss into a positive and rebound quickly. NSU has gone 2-0-1 following a loss this season and is 4-0-3 in its last seven games following defeats. After falling to Houston Christian, the Demons rattled off five straight victories before falling at Lamar.

"I think after a game like HCU or Lamar, we really come together," graduate student Emily Mougia said. "We have a heart-to-heart about what we need to do and how we can get better, and we work for it. That is what's great about this team. Everyone is willing to put in the work, and everyone is willing to go 100 percent and be all in and it comes out in the results."

The last time NSU traveled to Nicholls, a then-freshman Emily Senatore scored twice in a 2-2 tie in the regular season finale in 2023.

It was the first of her six multi-goal games during her career to this point. She has three this season, including a hat trick in the victory over Prairie View A&M.

That game began a sensational first three seasons for the Connecticut native, as only three NSU players in program history have scored more goals than Senatore's 22 by the end of their junior seasons.

Offensively, the Demons have three players in the top six in goals in overall games this season, led by Senatore's 11. Paige Baumgartner (7) ranks tied for third and Hosane Soukou (6) is currently tied for fifth to round out the Demons goal-scorers in the top six.

Kennedy Rist, who has collected four SLC Goalkeeper of the Week awards this season, has surrendered multiple goals just three times this season.

The redshirt junior from Palm Harbor, Fla., leads the Southland in both goals against average (.717) and save percentage (.845).

A good mix of veterans and youngsters fill a back line that has just allowed two teams—East Texas A&M and Lamar—to crack double digits in shot attempts during league play.

Led by the calmness of senior defender Jessica Spitzer, they are the only two teams to have more than five shots on goal during SLC play as well.

"My calmness and composure along the back line have definitely increased as I have gotten older," Spitzer said. "My sophomore year, I was probably very sporadic, but as my confidence increased in both me and my teammates, it has definitely become one of my strengths, I would say."

The Colonels are a dangerous team, as they are fighting for their lives, just two points out of a conference tournament spot.

Nicholls' seven points are tied for 11^th in the league and UIW and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are currently tied for eighth with nine points.

"Nicholls is a much better team this year than in years past," Brophy said. "They have picked up wins and points this year, and I think still alive to make the playoffs. We know they are fighting for a lot and will come out and fight for everything, so we know it is going to be a tough match, and we'll have to come out and play our best futbol."

Earlier this season, the Colonels took down Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for their first conference victory since 2018.

Before a loss last time out at SFA, Nicholls posted four consecutive ties, including drawing at Southeastern Louisiana and at home against Lamar.

Following the game, the Demons head back to Beaumont, Texas, for the SLC Tournament, beginning Nov. 4.