TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 24-ranked Northeastern State men's soccer team scored a pair of second-half goals to defeat Ouachita Baptist 2-1 Thursday evening at DeLoache Field.
 
The RiverHawks (7-4) won their third-straight match and exacted some revenge over a Tiger side that defeated NSU in Tahlequah last season (3-2).
 
OBU (3-8) was the stronger club in the first half and took a 1-0 lead into the halftime locker room. The goal came in the 32nd minute when Ryan Blue headed home a free kick from Tyler Mouton.
 
Both teams attempted seven first half shots, but the RiverHawks came out for the second half with a renewed vigor. They attempted the first 13 shots of the final 45 minutes, which included both the equalizer and the game winner.
 
NSU pulled level in the 57th minute when a cross from senior midfielder Brenden Bombardier on the right side found the head of sophomore midfielder Trevor Reed inside the area. Reed rose above the defense and slipped the ball past the keeper.
 
The game-winning strike came from sophomore midfielder Dominic Joseph-Jangoo in the 69th minute of play. Redshirt freshman Morgan Dizney possessed the ball at the top of the 18 but could not break down the OBU back line. He cleared the ball to Joseph-Jangoo, who rifled a low shot toward the net from about 30 yards out. The ball hit the chest of the goalkeeper, but he could not secure it due to the high velocity of the shot and it trickled over the goal line.
 
OBU was able to attempt a trio of shots in the match's final 20 minutes, but the visitors were unable to find the equalizer.
 
Northeastern State finished the contest with a 21-10 lead in shots and a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Senior goalkeeper Eric Shephard (7-4-0) made three saves and picked up the victory, while counterpart Jarrod Collins (0-3-0) suffered the loss after making eight saves and letting in two goals.
 
The RiverHawks will look to win their fourth win in a row when they take on Southern Nazarene at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 in Bethany, Oklahoma.
 
Scoring Summary
OBU                 1          0          –          0
NSU                 0          2          –          2
 
Individual Scoring
Ryan Blue (OBU) at 31:17 (Tyler Mouton)
Trevor Reed (NSU) at 56:56 (Brenden Bombardier)
Dominic Jangoo-Joseph (NSU) at 68:47 (Morgan Dizney)
 
Goalkeeper Saves
Jarrod Collins (OBU) – 8
Eric Shephard (NSU) – 3
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH ROB CZLONKA
On the tale of two halves…
"We are a very talented team. In the first half we were keeping the ball, but we weren't really going to the goal in as aggressive of a manner as I'd like to see us go. At halftime we addressed that. We addressed our mentality toward attacking the net and getting shots off and I think the second half showed that. The first goal was a great header from Trevor Reed. He really came in and fought for the ball. He jumped up over the goalie and really fought that ball into the net. It was a great act of aggressiveness and a well-timed run and a well-played ball. Dominic Jangoo's shot was a really powerful low hard shot that the keeper was able to get his hands on, but the aggressiveness in Jangoo's shot caused it to slip through."
 
On what makes a team like Ouachita Baptist so dangerous…
"That's one of the things that makes that team even more dangerous is they come out here and don't have anything to lose against a non-conference opponent like us. But they are an in-region opponent so this game is a very important marker for us in terms of NCAA positioning for postseason play. Now that we don't have our MIAA Championship tournament our only option is the NCAA tournament, so getting a good result against (Ouachita Baptist) is important. (OBU) shows up and they don't care about MIAA standings or results or anything like that, they're just looking to knock off a nationally-ranked team. It makes them incredibly dangerous and they do have a lot of very talented and athletic players. We know a lot of their players very well so we know they're good."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-