THIBODAUX — With a share of the Southland Conference regular season soccer crown locked up, Northwestern State aims to make sure it is the only team that can claim the title.
Northwestern (11-4-3, 6-2-1) tries to rebound from only its second loss in league play when it travels to Nicholls (4-7-5, 1-3-4), aiming to win the regular season outright, just like it did in 2021.
Kickoff tonight is at 7 p.m. at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex with live stats coverage available through NSUDemons.com. There is no ESPN+ coverage.
The Demons have the opportunity to earn their 12th regular season victory, the most since collecting 13 in 2000.
Despite a 2-0 loss last time out at Lamar, NSU earned at least a piece of the SLC regular season title with Stephen F. Austin’s tie at UIW.
“It is always important to look at a loss like we had at Lamar and take a lesson from it and to learn and grow and make sure we don’t just ignore it,” head coach Ian Brophy said. “We don’t want to turn that loss into two and just move past it, but we want to learn the lessons and apply ourselves in training this week and learn and grow from that result and we can use that as something that helps us moving forward.”
With SFA’s win over Nicholls this past Sunday, the Demons need to earn at least a tie to clinch the title outright.
One strength of the Demons is to overcome adversity and turn a loss into a positive and rebound quickly. NSU has gone 2-0-1 following a loss this season and is 4-0-3 in its last seven games following defeats. After falling to Houston Christian, the Demons rattled off five straight victories before falling at Lamar.
“I think after a game like HCU or Lamar, we really come together,” graduate student Emily Mougia said. “We have a heart-to-heart about what we need to do and how we can get better, and we work for it. That is what’s great about this team. Everyone is willing to put in the work, and everyone is willing to go 100 percent and be all in and it comes out in the results.”
The Colonels are a dangerous team, as they are fighting for their lives, just two points out of a conference tournament spot.
Nicholls’ seven points are tied for 11th in the league and UIW and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are currently tied for eighth with nine points.
“Nicholls is a much better team this year than in years past,” Brophy said. “They have picked up wins and points this year, and are still alive to make the playoffs. We know they are fighting for a lot and will come out and fight for everything, so we know it is going to be a tough match, and we’ll have to come out and play our best futbol.”
Earlier this season, the Colonels took down Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for their first conference victory since 2018.
Before a loss last time out at SFA, Nicholls posted four consecutive ties, including drawing at Southeastern Louisiana and at home against Lamar.
The Demons next play in Beaumont, Texas, at the SLC Tournament beginning Nov. 4.
VOLLEYBALL: The Demons visit the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals tonight at 6 p.m. on the heels of perhaps their best set of the season last Saturday. The Demons (1-23, 0-10 SLC) went toe-to-toe in the second set against league-leading Stephen F. Austin (14-7, 9-1 SLC) before falling 25-23.
“We really did a lot of good things in that match,” said Demon head coach Ben Kaszeta. “I think we’re continuing to grow each day, and we saw that Saturday. “That (SFA) is a really good team we played and I think we can build on it.”
UIW (11-11, 7-3 SLC) defeated UNO Saturday to remain tied for fourth place in the conference standings.
The Demons will head east to take on Houston Christian Saturday at 1 p.m.