TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State punched its ticket to the MIAA Tournament with a 5-2 win over Southwest Baptist on Sunday afternoon.  Paulina Chavez and Mariah Nicolet led the RiverHawks with a pair of goals to send them into the postseason with a 10-6-2 (4-5-2 MIAA) record, and winners of their last three matches.

Finishing sixth in the MIAA standings, Northeastern State will now head to Emporia State this Wednesday for a 1 p.m. start.  In the regular season meeting, the RiverHawks edged the Hornets 1-0 at DeLoache Field.

The loss for the Bearcats ends their season at 2-14-2 (2-10-1 MIAA).  Southwest Baptist scored their goals in the opening two minutes of the second half, and in the 83rd minute.

Valeria Pankratova scored her fifth goal of the season on a pass from Paige Lorenzo at the 42nd minute mark as NSU's second tally of the afternoon.

Chavez had a goal in both halves on penalty kicks, and Nicolet scored both of hers in the final ten minutes off passes from Meagan Chase.

Northeastern State outshot the Bearcats 22-to-8 and had 14 shots on-goal.