BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Northeastern State men's soccer team collected a 3-0 victory over Southwest Baptist Thursday afternoon at the SBU Soccer Field in the last match of the regular season.
 
The RiverHawks (12-6, 5-3 MIAA) won their final three matches of the campaign to keep hopes alive of a postseason berth. The defending MIAA champions also still have an opportunity to lay claim to the league crown this season. NSU would tie for the MIAA title with Upper Iowa if Fort Hays State defeats the Peacocks Friday and if FHSU and Lindenwood tie Sunday.
 
Northeastern State also sits third in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings. Only the top two teams from the region qualify for the NCAA Championship tournament, and NSU would need to leapfrog either first-place FHSU or second-place UIU between now and the official NCAA Championship bracket announcement Nov. 9.
 
In Thursday's victory over the Bearcats, the RiverHawks outshot the home side 20-4. All four SBU shots came in the final 26 minutes of the match.
 
The first was scored by senior midfielder Josue Morales in the 13th minute. Senior midfielder Brenden Bombardier possessed the ball along the right flank, and he sent a cross to the top of the 18. Morales settled and hit a shot that deflected off an SBU defender and into the top portion of the net.
 
Sophomore midfielder Justin Todd volleyed a shot into the upper right corner of the net in the 42nd minute, and senior forward Crosby Lee added an insurance tally in the 88th minute on a slow-rolling shot from right to left that trickled past the line.
 
Lee ended the season as NSU's top scorer with 10 goals. He is also now eighth in school history with 21 career goals.
 
Junior goalkeeper Jackson Biles (2-0) started in net for the first time this season, and he responded with his first clean sheet of the campaign. He was only forced to make one save, but he was up to the task when called upon. He now has 11 career shutouts, which ties the school's all-time record.
 
NSU scored 58 goals this season, which is the most by a Northeastern State side since 2004 (65). The RiverHawks have also conceded just 19 goals this year. That is the second-lowest mark in school history. There have only been three occurrences in NSU's history that opponents scored fewer than 20 goals in a season, and all three occurrences have been in the past three years.
 
Scoring Summary
NSU                 2          1          –          3
SBU                 0          0          –          0
 
Individual Scoring
Josue Morales (NSU) at 12:45 (Brenden Bombardier)
Justin Todd (NSU) at 41:39 (Joseph Garcia)
Crosby Lee (NSU) at 87:04 (unassisted)
 
Goalkeeper Saves
Jackson Biles (NSU) – 1
Davis Cantwell (SBU) – 11
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH ROB CZLONKA
Opening Statement...
"I'm very proud with how our guys played. They played a smart game. They knew what was at stake and they went after it. They scored two goals in the first half to put us comfortably ahead and I thought the goals we scored were good goals. We had a couple of other opportunities that got called back, but all in all I thought the guys had a good performance highlighted by Jackson (Biles) getting a shutout."
 
On the season…
"If we don't get in (to the NCAA Championship), it will be very disappointing. The seniors definitely deserve the opportunity. We've played a smart game. Defensively we've played an aggressive game, and in the attack we're one of the top two teams in the region. We're also one of the top teams in fewest goals allowed. So you couldn't ask these guys to do more. A couple of unfortunate losses throughout the season are hindering us, but these guys have been just the heart and backbone to developing a program that is now really well respected across the country in (NCAA) Division II."
 
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