TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State women's soccer team is set for a pair of road MIAA fixtures this weekend. NSU will first battle with Lindenwood at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in St. Charles, Missouri. The RiverHawks will then head to Warrensburg, Missouri, for a top-of-the-table showdown with No. 8-ranked Central Missouri at 1 p.m. Oct. 18.

ABOUT NSU
The RiverHawks (10-2, 5-1 MIAA) have won six of their last seven matches and have outscored opponents 20-6 in that stretch. Overall this season, NSU has outscored opponents 39-7. The team's most-recent three-match win streak includes victories over Washburn (1-0), Fort Hays State (2-1) and Nebraska-Kearney (7-1). Junior forward Anastasia Robinson leads the team in scoring this season with 24 points (9g-6a). She is coming off scoring a hat trick against the Lopers. Junior midfielder Jennifer Cudjoe is second on the team with 17 points (7g-3a). Sophomore midfielder Julia Mathis and senior midfielder McKenzie Musella are tied for the team lead in assists with seven each. Junior goalkeeper Jordan Woodruff (10-2) has a goals-against average of 0.55 and a saves percentage of .846 to go along with four shutouts.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
Name: Lindenwood University
Location: St. Charles, Missouri
Conference: MIAA
Record: 2-7-3, 1-4-1 MIAA
Series History: LWU leads 2-1-0 (first meeting was in 2012)
Top scorer: Alexis Robbers (5g-0a=10p)
Assist leader: Five players tied with one
Top goalkeeper: Jordan Gnolfo (1-6-2) / 2.04 GAA / .701 saves percentage
Fun fact: The team is winless at home (0-3-1) and has two road wins (2-4-2).

SCOUTING THE JENNIES
Name: University of Central Missouri
Location: Warrensburg, Missouri
Conference: MIAA
Record: 11-1, 5-1 MIAA (5-0 at home)
Series History: UCM leads 7-1-1 (last NSU victory was 1998)
Top scorer: Julie Ireland (9g-1a=19p)
Assist leader: Abby Rhodes (1g-5a=7p)
Top goalkeeper: Ana Dilkes (11-1) / 0.34 GAA / .920 save percentage
Fun facts: Central Missouri is currently the No. 8 team in the country and reached as high as No. 1 in the nation this season. The Jennies have outscored opponents 44-5 this season.

REGIONALLY RANKED
The RiverHawks moved up two spots to No. 6 in the most-recent NSCAA Central Region Rankings released Oct. 13. The sixth spot is tied for the highest regional ranking in school history. The team used a pair of victories last week to climb the regional rankings. The first installment of NCAA Regional Rankings - which are used to determine NCAA Championship participants - is set to drop Oct. 21.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHS IN THE MIAA STATS
Anastasia Robinson: T-3 in shots (42), 2nd in points (24), T-2 in goals (9), 3rd in assists (6), T-3rd in game-winning goals (2)
Jennifer Cudjoe: 5th in shots (40), T-6th in points (17), T-6th in goals (7)
Julia Mathis: 6th in shots (37), T-9th in points (13), T-1st in assists (7)
McKenzie Musella: T-1st in assists (7)
Kelsey McIntyre: T-3rd in assists (5)
Jordan Woodruff: 2nd in GAA (.554), 3rd in saves (33), T-2nd in shutouts (4), 3rd in saves percentage (.846)

INDIVIDUAL HIGHS IN THE NCAA STATS (top 30)
Anastasia Robinson: 19th in assists per game (0.5), 22nd in total points (24), 28th in points per game (2.0), 29th in total goals (9)
Julia Mathis: 7th in total assists (7), 11th in assists per game (0.58)
McKenzie Musella: 7th in total assists (7), 11th in assists per game (0.58)
Jordan Woodruff: 22nd in goals against average (.554)

TEAM HIGHS IN THE NCAA STATS (top 25)
14th in scoring offense (3.25)
13th in total goals (39)
21st in goals-against average (.583)
12th in points per game (9.50)
12th in total points (114)
5th in assists (36)
4th in assists per game (3.00)
15th in won-loss-tied percentage (.833)
 
BURCH, ROBINSON SECURE WEEKLY HONORS
Senior defender Emily Burch and junior forward Anastasia Robinson were honored this past week as the MIAA Women's Soccer Defensive and Offensive Athletes of the Week. The duo helped the RiverHawks post a 2-0 mark this past week, registering victories over Fort Hays State (2-1) and Nebraska-Kearney (7-1). The Tigers were coming off a 2-1 victory over then-No. 1 Central Missouri, while the Lopers were coming off a 1-0 road win at Central Oklahoma. Burch, a senior defender from Frisco, Texas, helped pace a backline that conceded a total of just 15 shots in the two victories. She played all 180 minutes and also recorded an assist against UNK. Robinson, a junior forward from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, registered her first-career hat trick in NSU's win over the Lopers. Her first goal tied the match after the RiverHawks fell behind early, and she also added a pair of insurance tallies in the second half. The hat trick was the first for an NSU women's soccer player since 2013. Robinson also assisted on the game-tying goal against the Tigers. The accolade for Robinson is her second of the season (Sept. 29). She is the only player in the MIAA to win offensive athlete of the week honors twice this year. Burch collected her third-career defensive athlete of the week honor. She has now won the award once in each of the last three seasons (Oct. 8, 2013, Oct. 7, 2014).

-GoRiverHawksGo.com-