NATCHITOCHES—As far as only season contests go, there aren't many bigger than this one.

The Northwestern State soccer team (5-2-2, 1-0) welcomes the reigning Southland Conference regular season and tournament champion, rival Stephen F. Austin (3-2-5, 1-0) to the Demon Soccer Complex on Sunday.
Kickoff is at 1 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+.

NSU aims to exact revenge after being knocked out of the SLC Tournament a season ago by the Lumberjacks in overtime after falling in Nacogdoches to end the regular season in a game to decide the regular season title.

While this contest doesn't hold the same significance as the last matchup, it is a great early season test and if last season was any indication, it could hold a lot of weight during the conference championship race.

"They are really tough," head coach Ian Brophy said. "In a rivalry match, it's always going to be a big game. Them beating us last year to win the conference regular season title adds more importance to the game, so I am really looking forward to this one."

Both teams posted shutout victories in their conference opener, as the Demons took down UTRGV on the road 2-0 while the Lumberjacks knocked off McNeese 4-0 at home.

In NSU's win over UTRGV, the Demons out-shot the Vaqueros 21-8 for the game and received goals from Hosane Soukou and Paige Baumgartner in the second half to seal the Demons' fifth triumph of the season.

The Demons know a win over their rivals would be a giant building block in the chase for a conference championship.

"Getting a win would be a really nice way to prove ourselves," junior forward Dawson Marrs said. "It would show that we are coming in as a strong team and of course, we'd love to show that we've improved from last year and I think it would just show that we're making a big impact at the start of conference play."

With Soukou's fifth goal of the season, she tied Emily Senatore in both goals (5) and total points (11), both of which lead the team.

She also moved into a tie for ninth for goals in a freshman campaign.

Kennedy Rist posted her second solo shutout of the season, as well as a being a part of a combined shutout against Mississippi Valley State.

She made four stops to earn the clean sheet, lowering her goals against average to 0.92 and the average as a team to just 0.78.

On the other side, SFA's goals are spread out, as eight players have found the back of the net at least once with five players scoring twice.

Alexis Miller has four assists, and Brielle Buchanan has three to go along with each of them scoring two goals.

One of the top goalkeepers in the SLC is back for the Lumberjacks in Sierra McCluer, who has won a conference goalkeeper of the week award this season.

McCluer has five shutouts and a goals against average of 1.06 with a save percentage of 0.830. She has made 44 saves, which is second in the conference.

"From my point of view, I kind of like playing tough games early on in conference," freshman forward Kendall Hemperley said. "It kind of sets the tone for the rest of the conference season."

Following the meet, NSU takes a quick break during SLC action to play its final non-conference game, Senior Day, on Thursday against Prairie View A&M before heading right back into league play for the rest of the season, starting with a trip to Houston Christian on Sept. 28.