SAN ANTONIO—Northwestern State is riding high off a five-game winning streak led by a high-powered offense that has scored 39 goals in those five games.

NSU (5-5, 2-0) takes that red-hot offense into a big Southland Conference showdown on the road against UIW (5-5-2, 2-1) at Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium.

Moved to Friday due to impending weather, the game is at 6 p.m. and still can be viewed on ESPN+.

"UIW is another really good team," head coach Ian Brophy said. "It is a tough place to go play, so we know we are in for a tough one, and we have to approach the game the right way and do the right things and work hard. If we don't do those things, we'll get punched in the mouth, so we need to do all the little things right so we can hopefully we can get out of there with three points."

The Demons have scored multiple goals in five straight; the first time they can say that since the final five games of the 2022 season.

NSU comes in tied for second in the country with 41 goals, only trailing Purdue's 45, as well as tops in the country in goals per game (4.1).

That includes a four-goal outburst in the win at Stephen F. Austin this past Sunday.

The word Brophy has used often involving this team has been 'resilience.'

His team showed plenty of resiliency in falling behind on three separate occasions at SFA and still completed the comeback with a pair of goals in the game's final 17 minutes.

Tiana Cruz, the hero of the game at SFA with a game-winner in the 85th minute, has a streak of five straight games with points. Nobody has had a six-game streak for NSU since 2007.

On the winner, Cruz received a perfect pass from Emily Gundin, who earned Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals in addition to that assist in a pair of conference wins.

The last time the Demons made the trip to UIW in 2024, Cruz scored her first career goal in a 2-1 victory in San Antonio.

"I was a freshman then, so it was such a rewarding feeling to be able to go out there and score my first goal and it was such a rewarding feeling, so hopefully it happens again this year," Cruz said.

In addition to Gundin, Bonnie Miller (Defensive) and Audrey Marfia (Goalkeeper) both also won conference weekly awards to complete the NSU conference award sweep.

Miller scored her first two goals at NSU in the win at SFA and helped the Demons shut out Lamar. Marfia recorded crucial saves in critical moments to help the Demons post a weekend sweep, including recording her first shutout of the season.

"I am grateful to win that award," Marfia said. "I am thankful for my teammates, and it was a team effort to get that shutout and the wins overall, this weekend. It reflects overall all that we've contributed these last few months, even dating back to the spring."

UIW is coming off a road win at Southeastern Louisiana after falling in a tight one at Nicholls.

Earlier in the season, the Cardinals had a lead in the second half before falling in a tight game at Miami.

It is a matchup of strengths, as the Demons' high-powered offense battles against a UIW defense that has only surrendered more than one goal three times this season, two of which came against power conference teams.

Goalkeeper Hannah Alexander is second in the conference in overall saves with 51, trailing only Brandie Musser of SFA.

Next up following the match for the Demons is another difficult game against East Texas A&M on Oct. 8 in front of the home crowd.