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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State women's soccer team defeated East Central University 2-1 Tuesday evening at DeLoache Field.

The RiverHawks have now won two in a row on their home field to improve to 2-1 on the young 2014 campaign. The Tigers fell to 2-3-1 this year. The victory for NSU was the fourth in a row over East Central.

ECU took the early lead on a goal by Kristina Gonzalez-Claborn in the fourth minute.

The Tigers maintained the 1-0 lead until the 65th minute, when freshman forward Morgan Kent headed in a ball from a Chelsea Martin free kick. Martin, a freshman midfielder, then added a goal of her own two minutes later. The freshman midfielder collected an errant goal kick and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to give the RiverHawks the 2-1 lead.

NSU outshot the Tigers 17-11 and had the advantage in corner kicks 4-1.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Woodruff earned her second victory of the season. She played 90 minutes while recording six saves and allowing one goal.

The RiverHawks will open MIAA play against the University of Central Oklahoma Sept. 19. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. at DeLoache Field.

Scoring Summary
ECU        1   0   -   1
NSU        0   2   -   2
 
Individual Scoring
Kristina Gonzalez-Claborn (ECU) at 3:36 (unassisted)
Morgan Kent (NSU) at 64:23 (Chelsea Martin)
Chelsea Martin (NSU) at 66:35 (unassisted)
 
Goalkeeper Saves
Taylor Lowe (ECU) – 5
Jordan Woodruff (NSU) – 6
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH CHASE WOOTEN
Opening Statement...
"I thought we put ourselves in a tough situation by conceding a goal that early in the first half. East Central came out ready to play. I thought Jordan (Woodruff) could have done a better job with the first ball in. She's a stronger goalie than that. We showed some inexperience on the clear. We had a couple of other clearances where we could have paid a price on. So be it. We're still finding our way and making some mistakes. Overall, we had pretty good tempo and flow of the game. We're really struggling to put away our chances to ice some of these games. Credit to East Central, they hung around all night. They caused us lots of problems. Even when we equalized, they were still coming at us. Even at home, it's nice to turn around and get that W. It wasn't our best performance, but our work ethic was good. We're starting to understand how to play together."

On how far away this year's team is from last year's team...
"This isn't the sort of thing that happens overnight. We have a lot of new faces out there. If it is just one person, then they tend to fit the amoeba a bit faster. In this situation, we're just growing with all our new faces. We're getting subs into the game that are playing in just their first or second games, and so they're terrified and nervous. They are just trying to play through those emotions. We're almost seeing it from where we were three games ago. We're just not quite executing it. It's just a process that won't happen overnight. That group last year basically got to grow up together. This group will have some of those same opportunities."

On preparing for the MIAA opener against Central Oklahoma...
"For this group right now, we just want to win. That sets a good precedent going into the games. Obviously UCO is a good side. They don't ever have a bad team. We're going to see a speed of play we probably have not seen yet. We feel OK, but we're at a point where our defending is going to have to be immeasurably better. The same thing goes on Sunday against Missouri Southern. That weekend is a big weekend for us because they're home games. We are hoping to get off to a good start."

-GoRiverHawksGo.com-