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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 15-ranked Northeastern State men's soccer team defeated No. 23 Fort Hays State 2-1 Thursday night at DeLoache Field. The contest was the MIAA opener for both programs.
 
The RiverHawks improved to 3-2-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the league, while the Tigers fell to 2-2-1 this year and 0-1-0 in the conference. NSU evened up the all-time series with FHSU at 3-3-3. The squad also improved to 3-0-2 at home over FHSU after snapping a three-match winless streak against their chief rivals.
 
Northeastern State got on the board quickly when junior midfielder Crosby Lee was able to put away his first goal of the season. Senior forward Jordan Schmoker's corner kick in the 18th minute found the head of sophomore midfielder Chris Mendez at the top of the six-yard box. Mendez directed the ball to Lee's foot on the far post, and he calmly chipped the ball into the top portion of the net.
 
Fort Hays State answered back with a Diego Cabral penalty kick in the 22nd minute of play. NSU freshman defender Landon Merrill fouled FHSU forward Michael Cole from behind inside the box, and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Cabral stepped to the line and sent his shot low to the right.
 
The score remained even for the remainder of the half.
 
NSU came out firing in the second half and quickly regained the lead. Junior midfielder Frank Garay found possession on the left wing deep in FHSU territory in the 47th minute. He sent a long cross through the box that found Schmoker's feet. He rifled a shot that deflected off a Tiger defender and into the net. The goalkeeper jumped to his right, but the deflection sent the ball back to his left where he was originally standing.
 
A red card by FHSU defender Addie Pauler in the 49th minute put the visitors down a man for the rest of the match, and the RiverHawks were able to hold on for victory.
 
NSU outshot FHSU 18-9 and held a narrow 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Jackson Biles (3-2) made two saves in the winning effort, while FHSU keeper Kent Freund (2-1-1) took the loss after saving five shots and conceding two goals.
 
Northeastern State will now travel to Fayette, Iowa, for a noon tilt Sept. 20 against Upper Iowa.
 
Scoring Summary
FHSU               1          0          –          1
NSU                 1          1          –          2
 
Individual Scoring
Crosby Lee (NSU) at 17:41 (Chris Mendez, Jordan Schmoker)
Diego Cabral (FHSU) at 21:39 (penalty kick)
Jordan Schmoker (NSU) at 46:45 (Frank Garay)
 
Goalkeeper Saves
Kent Freund (FHSU) – 5
Jackson Biles (NSU) – 2
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH ROB CZLONKA
Opening Statement…
"We're very happy to get the first win in conference play. It's always a great way to start. It's even better to get it against a rivalry school like Fort Hays State. They played very, very well even though they went a man down in the second half. But we came out on fire in the second half after conceding a penalty, which I'm very disappointed that we did that. Our guys fought hard to withstand that mental strain and then we came out on fire and scored a goal pretty quickly in the second half. We didn't do it the easy way. We grinded it out as a team that was a man up. You have to learn how to defend really well if you want to win matches like this, and it took everyone we had available to us in order to pull out the win."
 
On playing a team that they struggled against last year…
"They're a different team, we're a different team. They went a man down and we're missing a lot of key players still. We're missing a striker, we're missing a center back and we're missing a lot of other key guys. We've got a lot of knocks and nicks. Our guys aren't 100 percent. It's great to get a win against an opponent like Fort Hays because they are always so good and so tough. I think getting this win, especially after those back-to-back losses, was big for us."
 
On preparations for Upper Iowa…
"We're going to do everything we can to get our bodies rested and set. We're going to do everything that we know according to sports science and do what we have to. We'll take that trip and we'll play that game. They're a tough team who is also 1-0 in conference play, so it should be a difficult match for us."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-