BEAUMONT, Texas—Coming off another thrilling Southland Conference Tournament victory, regular-season champion Northwestern State plays red-hot Houston Christian on Thursday in the tournament semifinals at the Lamar Soccer Complex.
Kickoff is at 4 p.m., with a stream of the game on ESPN+.
Top-seeded Northwestern (13-4-3) earned its way to the semis on a goal with three ticks left in overtime by freshman Kendall Hemperley, defeating No. 8 McNeese 1-0.
It was just the latest of six consecutive SLC Tournament matches for the Demons to go into overtime.
The Demons have reached the SLC Tournament semifinals in six of the last seven seasons, including all three seasons under head coach Ian Brophy.
Fifth-seeded HCU (10-8-2) made its way to the semis by way of a dominant 4-0 win against No. 4 East Texas A&M after beating the Lions 2-0 last week to end the regular season.
In the previous meeting this season, the Huskies posted a 1-0 win in Houston on Sept. 28. NSU outshot HCU 17-7 in the game, but the Huskies had more shots on frame, 4-3.
“It is going to be a defensive battle,” Brophy said. “It is going to be a tough, tough, match. For both teams, it is going to be scrappy and gritty. We both play good soccer, which might neutralize each other a little bit.
“It will be a good game, and they did beat us last time, so the hope is that we can look at what we can do better and hopefully improve and execute on what we want to do.”
The series overall has been tight (HCU leads 8-7-2), as have the matches between the two, as 12 of the 17 have been decided by no more than one goal, including the last seven.
The Demons are aiming for a bit of school history.
Their 13 wins are tied for the second most in program history, trailing just the 15 set in 2000.
Goalkeeper Kennedy Rist has posted nine shutouts this season, which are tied for the second most in program history for a single season, while one more goal from Emily Senatore this season would tie her for second in school history for goals in a season.
The winner of the game takes on the winner of the other semifinal match between host school No. 6 Lamar and No. 2 Stephen F. Austin in the tournament final on Sunday at 1 p.m.