TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 17-ranked Northeastern State men's soccer team defeated Southwest Baptist 5-0 Thursday night at DeLoache Field.
 
The RiverHawks (9-4, 3-1 MIAA) won their fifth-straight match and moved to the top of the league table at the midway point of the season. NSU leads with nine points, while Fort Hays State (2-1-1) and Lindenwood (2-1-1) are tied for second with seven points. Upper Iowa is right behind with six points (2-2), and all four teams have four matches remaining in the regular season.
 
Northeastern State was led Thursday by senior forward Crosby Lee, who earned the brace by scoring in the fifth and 89th minutes. He now has five goals in his last two matches, and the opening goal of the night became the first game winner of his career.
 
Senior midfielder Josue Morales scored his second of the season in the 34th minute, and junior midfielder Jonathan Guzman added a tally from the spot with 4.9 seconds remaining in the first half. The referee awarded the penalty kick when senior defender Paul Samia was pulled down inside the box by the visiting goalkeeper.
 
A Bearcat (0-11, 0-4 MIAA) defender volleyed a cross into his own net in the 53rd minute to push the NSU lead to 4-0, and Lee added the fifth and final marker in the dying embers of the contest.

Senior goalkeeper Eric Shephard (9-4) saved all seven shots on frame to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season. Lajos Zadravecz (0-11) was able to stop six NSU shots but let in the five goals to take the loss for the Bearcats.
 
The RiverHawks outshot SBU 24-13 and held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
 
NSU will sit out the remainder of the week and will then begin preparations for a pair of crucial road contests. The RiverHawks will first head to Fayette, Iowa, for a match against Upper Iowa at 2 p.m. Oct. 23. They will then take on Lindenwood at noon Oct. 25 in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
Scoring Summary
SBU                 0          0          –          0
NSU                 3          2          –          5
 
Individual Scoring
Crosby Lee (NSU) at 4:12 (Joseph Garcia)
Josue Morales (NSU) at 33:02 (Chance Miller)
Jonathan Guzman (NSU) at 44:55 (penalty kick)
OWN GOAL (NSU) at 52:15
Crosby Lee (NSU) at 88:14 (unassisted)
 
Goalkeeper Saves
Lajos Zadravecz (SBU) – 6
Eric Shephard (NSU) – 7
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH ROB CZLONKA
On how the team responded to being down two players…
"It's always hard to play without two pieces of your puzzle, and (Eric) Crawford is a huge part of our team. You could see how not having his leadership in the back in the first half affected us. We spoke to our backline about things he brings to the team and how they've got to bring it when he's not available. I thought Julius (James) did a great job and Bailey (Weeks) did a great job in their own right. I'm happy we were able to get the shutout. I thought they filled in very well for him and same thing with all the guys across the backline. (Paul) Samia and (Chance) Miller did a great job, and (Jonathan) Adams and (Landon) Merrill did a great job as well."
 
On the recent uptick in offensive output…
"In attack we've got a lot of different weapons. We're starting to see Crosby Lee find a lot more confidence now that we've moved him up front. Brenden (Bombardier) had a hat trick a couple of games ago, and he was threatening tonight despite not scoring. (Josue Morales) scored another good goal. He's been a guy that's been an assist machine instead of a goal scorer, but he's shown recently that he can see the net. We've got a lot of good talent across the field and some young guys who have talent too. It's just on the day who's going to show up and do it."
 
On the mindset heading into matches against Upper Iowa and Lindenwood…
"We are first going to celebrate this win tonight. You always celebrate a win, and a five-goal win is fantastic. This was the end of our first half of conference play, and I think we're at the top. We want to enjoy this. We want to take a couple days and let the guys cool off. We've not really had that opportunity in the past so we're going to take advantage of it. Then we're going to come back and get ready. Upper Iowa got us here (1-0 earlier this season) so we want to get out there and return the favor. We'll focus on that game and prepare ourselves."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-