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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 14-ranked Northeastern State men's soccer team closes out the regular season this week with matches against a pair of Baptist schools.
 
First up will be a rematch with non-conference foe Ouachita Baptist (7-6-2) at 3 p.m. Oct. 29 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, followed by an MIAA contest against Southwest Baptist at 1 p.m. Nov. 1 at DeLoache Field. The match against SBU will be Senior Day for the RiverHawks.
 
THE CHAMP IS HERE
Northeastern State enters the final week of league play with a 12-3-1 overall record and a 10-0-1 mark in the MIAA. The RiverHawks have already clinched the 2014 MIAA Regular-Season Championship with 31 points, and they are guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MIAA Championship tournament. The last time NSU won a conference championship was when they finished in a three-way tie for first in 2003 (Lone Star Conference). This is also the third conference title in league history.
 
THE CONFERENCE TOURNEY
The 2014 MIAA Championship tournament will be held Nov. 6 and Nov. 8 at the College Boulevard Activities Complex in Olathe, Kansas. Northeastern State, the No. 1 seed in the event, will face off against the No. 4 seed at 7 p.m. Nov. 6. The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds will battle at 4 p.m. The finals will be contested at 11 a.m. Nov. 8. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance to the facility prior to each match. A daily general admission ticket will be $5, and youth soccer players (K-8) can purchase tickets for $2. Fort Hays State, ranked No. 22 in the nation, will be the No. 2 seed. Lindenwood (16 points) and Upper Iowa (15 points) are currently slotted to be the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. Harding is fifth in the league table with 13 points. All three sides have two league matches remaining, while NSU and FHSU both have just one.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Ouachita Baptist University is located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The Tigers are independents who are ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Central Region rankings that were announced last week. OBU owns a 7-6-2 record, which includes a 3-2 victory over Northeastern State on Oct. 8 in Tahlequah. Since that win, the Tigers have defeated Southern Nazarene (1-0), drew with Harding (0-0) and lost to Christian Brothers (1-0). Tinashe Chigede (8g-4a=20p) leads the side in every statistical category. He has scored six of OBU's last nine goals. David Henley (7-6-2) owns a 1.61 goals-against average and a .714 saves percentage. He also has four shutouts in 1345:00. The RiverHawks are 10-2 against OBU since 2000.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Northeastern State and Southwest Baptist have met each of the last three years, which were the first meetings between the programs since NSU joined the NCAA in 1996. The RiverHawks defeated SBU 5-0 in Bolivar in 2012 and picked up a 10-0 victory in Tahlequah last season. NSU also defeated SBU 3-1 earlier this year in Bolivar. The Bearcats (0-16, 0-10 MIAA) are currently on a 35-match losing streak that dates back to late in the 2012 season. They have been outscored 68-16 this season.
 
Justin Schaeffer (5g-2a=12p) leads the side in scoring. Lajos Zadravecz (0-9) and Alan Shriner (0-7) have split time in net. Zadravecz carries a 4.81 GAA and a .544 S%, while Shriner owns a 3.70 GAA with a .631 S%.
 
RIVERHAWKS CLAIM TOP SPOT IN NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
NSU earned the top spot in the initial NCAA Central Region rankings, the National Collegiate Athletics Association announced last Wednesday. The top two programs from the Central Region qualify for the 2014 NCAA Championship and will meet at the home of the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Round of 16. The top team from the Central Region will also host the top two teams remaining from the Midwest Region in the NCAA Round of 16 and Quarterfinals. The next set of regional rankings will be released Oct. 29, and the NCAA Championship participants will be announced Nov. 10. Fort Hays State is currently slotted at No. 2 in the region and would travel to NSU for the NCAA tourney if the season were to end today. This was the same scenario that played out two years ago, when Northeastern State advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals after defeating FHSU in Tahlequah. Lindenwood and Ouachita Baptist are currently on the outside looking in. They are ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
 
UP TO NO. 14 NATIONALLY
Northeastern State moved up one spot to No. 14 in the nation in this week's polls, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced Tuesday afternoon. The RiverHawks had spent the previous four weeks ranked No. 15 in the country. NSU is the only team from the Central Region to earn a national rank in all eight polls issued by the NSCAA so far this season. Fort Hays State is the only other team from the region that earned a national rank this week, and the Tigers checked in at No. 22. NSU defeated FHSU 2-1 earlier this season in Tahlequah and earned a 1-1 draw this past weekend in Hays. Northeastern State also remained atop the Central Region rankings for the eighth week in a row.
 
IN THE NCAA STATS
Northeastern State is ranked in the top 25 nationally in seven statistical categories. The RiverHawks rank eighth in both total assists (38) and total points (118), ninth in total goals (40), 14th in both assists per game (2.24) and points per game (6.94), 19th in scoring offense (2.35) and 21st in saves percentage (0.816).
 
Individually, Jordan Schmoker is first in the nation with 12 assists and third nationally in assists per game (0.71). He is also 11th in total points (30) and 20th in points per game (1.76). Goalkeeper Jackson Biles is 21st in the NCAA in saves percentage (.824) and 28th in goals-against average (0.774).
 
SCHMOKER AGAIN BRINGS HOME HARDWARE
Jordan Schmoker was honored as the MIAA Men's Soccer Athlete of the Week, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced Oct. 14. The senior forward from Catoosa, Oklahoma, tied the then-MIAA record for assists in a single match with three in a 4-1 league victory over Upper Iowa on Oct. 11. He also scored a goal on a penalty kick earlier in the week against Ouachita Baptist and had a pair of assists against Southwest Baptist to finish with seven points (1g-5a) overall for the RiverHawks. He holds the NSU and MIAA records for career assists (33), and he also leads the league in assists and points (22) this season. This was the second time in 2014 that Schmoker has won the weekly honor. He was also named MIAA Athlete of the week on Sept. 9.
 
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