EDINBURG, Texas—A challenging non-conference schedule has prepared the Northwestern State soccer team for Southland Conference play, which begins Thursday on the road against UTRGV.

NSU (4-2-2) heads to Edinburg for the first time in program history, opening up SLC play against the conference's newest member.

Kickoff is at 6:30 and can be seen on ESPN+.

"They are a really unique team," head coach Ian Brophy said. "They play a lot of different ways, so I am excited to see how they come out. They are really exciting and have played really well in the lead-up to this. They look tough, just like every conference game this year.

"I think every team in the conference is good, so it's just about if we can show up and play our best soccer and we should be able to come out with three points, hopefully."

The Demons have had success in conference openers, having won six in a row and are 14-9-5 in program history.

In last year's opener, NSU scored in the 14^th minute and carried that to a 2-0 win against Nicholls.

"Getting off to a strong start is important if you want to have a good conference campaign and be there competing at the end," Brophy said. "I have always said you're not going to be able to win the conference title in the first few games, but you might lose it. It is always good to get a good start in terms of what we want to accomplish later in the season."

During that string of six victories in a row, just two have come away from home and those happened in 2019 (Stephen F. Austin) and Spring 2021 (Sam Houston State).

The two teams met for the first time ever last season in Natchitoches, a 3-1 NSU victory over UTRGV (3-4-1). Emily Senatore and Paige Baumgartner each scored, and Emma Pethel recorded two assists for the Demons.

Senatore aims to back up her first team all-conference selection with another one, as she enters league play tied for second in the conference in both goals and points.

When Senatore scores, people can expect freshman Hosane Soukou to follow suit, as the pairing has each scored in four games so far this season.

NSU has 15 assists this season, with four players having recorded multiple assists, led by Riley Stern's four.

One of those players with multiple assists is Dawson Marrs, who is graduating this school year and is pumped about her final SLC opener.

"I am super excited," she said. "This is my favorite time of year, and this is what we've been training for. I am glad I get the opportunity to put it all out there for one last go-around."

Not to be out-done, the goalkeepers, Kennedy Rist and Audrey Marfia, have surrendered just three goals in the past six games combined.

Rist, who has won a pair of conference keeper of the week awards, made her return last game against Abilene Christian after a two-game absence. She has recorded 27 saves and sports a goals against average of just 1.09, which is second in the SLC.

One is the magic number for NSU, as it is 21-6-5 when scoring at least one goal during the Brophy era, including 15-2-2 in the past two years.

NSU is coming off a 1-0 loss at Abilene Christian but have had a week to prepare for the conference opener, a week that freshman Kendall Hemperley welcomed as the team re-grouped before league play.

"It is definitely a good to have a big break," she said. "I think we could recuperate and get back together as a team and let our bodies heal up a little bit before the next game. It was definitely better for us."

Despite having a losing record, the Vaqueros put a scare into Houston, losing 1-0 on the road to Houston—the same Houston team that crushed Texas 4-1 earlier this season.

Lisa Elowsson has five goals, which is tied with Senatore for the second-most in the Southland during non-conference play. Her running mate is Yiselle Bernal, who is second in the league in assists with five.

Savannah Frisby is second on the team with four goals.

Following the match, it doesn't get any easier for the Demons, as they head home for the first conference game in front of the friendly fans against reigning regular season and tournament champion Stephen F. Austin.