NATCHITOCHES—A new season brings new challenges, as the Northwestern State soccer team announced its 2025 schedule of 19 games, nine of which are being played at the Demon Soccer Complex.

For the second straight season, every Southland Conference team plays every other league team once, in addition to playing some tough non-conference competition.

Third-year head coach Ian Brophy is certainly no stranger to playing a difficult schedule to begin the season and this season is no different.

NSU begins the season Aug. 14 on the road against Texas, the third straight year in which Brophy's bunch is playing an SEC foe during the non-conference slate.

It is the Demons first ever meeting with the Longhorns.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for NSU, as it travels to Dallas on Aug. 17 to battle SMU for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

The Demons wrap up their three-game road trip to begin the season with a visit to Tarleton State on Aug. 21 to finish a home-and-home after NSU claimed the first meeting last season, 1-0 in Natchitoches.

A visit from Alcorn starts the home slate on Aug. 24, the first of three consecutive contests against SWAC schools and four overall during the 2025 non-conference schedule.

The next two games against SWAC schools come at Mississippi Valley State (Aug. 31) before coming home to play Grambling (Sept. 4).

The Demons have back end of home-and-homes the next two games with a home date with UL Lafayette (Sept. 7) before heading back on the road to face Abilene Christian on Sept. 11.

NSU dives headfirst into league play with a pair of tough games, beginning with its first trip to UTRGV on Sept. 18. The Vaqueros went 6-2-2 in front of the home crowd and 2-1-2 at in SLC play with the only loss coming to league champion Stephen F. Austin.

In speaking of SFA, the Lumberjacks are next up for the Demons for the SLC home opener on Sept. 21. It is the first matchup with its rivals from Nacogdoches, Texas, since NSU saw its season come to an end last season in heartbreaking fashion with a 1-0 overtime loss to SFA in the SLC Tournament semifinals.

Following a pair of grueling SLC matchups, NSU welcomes its final non-conference opponent and SWAC opponent in 2025 to the Demon Soccer Complex on Sept. 25, facing Prairie View A&M on Senior Day.

After the visit from Prairie View, the Demons head back to league play for the final eight contests of the regular season, starting with a trip to Houston Christian on Sept. 28.

NSU has a chance to separate itself over the next five games, as it has four home contests within those five games, where Brophy's teams have excelled during his tenure, as the Demons have gone 7-2-1 in the pasttwo seasons at home during SLC play.

The stretch opens with a visit from in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 2 during Homecoming weekend, as NSU will honor the 2005 SLC Championship squad for the 20^th anniversary of the conference championship.

It is also a rematch of the classic SLC Tournament quarterfinal match from a year ago that saw NSU win in overtime.

The Demons also host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 9, McNeese on Oct. 16 and UIW on Oct. 19. The contest with UIW is also Alumni Day.

Those four home games sandwich a road game against East Texas A&M on Oct. 12.

The final two games are on the road against Lamar (Oct. 23) and the regular season finale at Nicholls on Oct. 30.

Lamar is hosting the SLC Tournament, so NSU aims to make a return trip to Beaumont two weeks after the regular season meeting, as for the first time since 2022, the conference tournament is not being played in Corpus Christi.