TAHLEQUAH – Paulina Chavez broke a tie in the 54th minute and pushed Northeastern State to a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon over Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Despite the close score, the RiverHawks outplayed the Lopers on the field, and dominated the shot total by 13-to-4.  Mariah Nicolet had Northeastern State's first goal and it was her second straight day finding the back of the net in ninth minute on a pass from Sarah Rector.   Northeastern State missed a few opportunities in the first half to blow the contest open with an offside call erasing a goal and a pair of clean shots that went above the post.
 
The Lopers tied the game on a free kick in the 40th minute on one of their two shots on-goal against the RiverHawks. 
 
Chavez's goal in the second half was her ninth of the season to break the tie and her second game winner for the freshman from Broken Arrow.
 
Sunday's win moved the RiverHawks to 13-2 overall and 7-2 in the MIAA with two regular season contests remaining.  The victory also keeps NSU at home in the opening round the upcoming conference tournament with the RiverHawks clinching a spot in the top-four seeds.   If the season ending today, Northeastern State would host Central Oklahoma who will visit Tahelquah on Friday at 7 p.m. for senior day at Dr. Dan L . DeLoache Field.
 
The loss for Nebraska-Kearney sends them to 4-9-3 overall and 1-7-1 in league play.