DALLAS—Less than 72 hours after perhaps the most significant regular season win in program history, the Northwestern State soccer team has another opportunity to put the rest of the country on notice.

After defeating No. 19 Texas last time out, the Demons (1-0) head to the Metroplex on Sunday to battle SMU (0-1) in what is a homecoming for seven players on the NSU roster.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium and can be watched on ACC Network X.

Paige Baumgartner (Rowlett), Bailey Porter (Allen), Madison Murphy (Frisco), Emily Mougia (Sachse), Jessica Spitzer (Allen), Riley Stern (Fort Worth) and Dawson Marrs (Denton) are all making their returns to the Metroplex, playing in front of their friends and family. In addition to the seven players, graduate assistant Caroline Hilliard is a native of Corinth.

"I love playing in Dallas," Spitzer said. "I like knowing that friends and family are coming up to watch that game. It is my favorite game of the season."
It is the fourth time in five seasons that the Demons make the trip to SMU.

"It is definitely a target for me every year to play in the Dallas area," head coach Ian Brophy said. "Getting to play a big-time opponent like SMU is always a bonus. We played them last year, so we know a little bit what it's like, so we're at least a little bit familiar with it now.

"They are another team that is really good. This is a good test for us to see how we've progressed from last year to this year. We know they're going to be better, but hopefully this a sign about how we've become better as well."

NSU is aiming for its first back-to-back road wins in non-conference play since 2020.

While she is not from the Metroplex—or even Texas, for that matter—Emily Senatore is off to a sensational start to the season.

Following a strong sophomore campaign in which she led the Demons with eight goals, the Connecticut native made a name for herself nationally last time out, scoring twice in the upset victory, including what turned out to be the game winner in the 72^nd minute.

Now she leads the group into another tough test in Dallas against SMU, which gave No. 10 Wake Forest all it could handle on the road before falling 2-0.

In her first career game, Hosane Soukou scored her first career goal, which tied the game 2-2 in the 61^st minute.

While the offense took home many of the headlines, Kennedy Rist recorded 13 saves in her first career start at goalkeeper, keeping the Demons in the game when trailing and slammed the door shut on the Longhorns after NSU took the lead.

Against an SEC opponent, Rist and the defense didn't allow a goal in the final nearly 58 minutes of game action.

Last season, Mougia's season ended as quickly as it began, suffering an ankle injury just 33 minutes into the season at SMU. Now, the graduate student heads back to the site of her injury after starting and playing 72 minutes at Texas.

"It's always great playing against these types of schools," Mougia said. "All of our family is coming out to support and there are multiple girls on the team from that area. We always say that it's like another home game, so that energy and that environment is always good to play in."

Following the match, NSU wraps up the Texas road swing to begin the season with a trip to Tarleton State on Thursday before coming home for its home opener against Alcorn on Sunday afternoon.