TAHLEQUAH -- The RiverHawks Men's Soccer team will be back on the road this weekend, facing Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene in a pair of GAC contests. This will be the start of a three-match road trip for the RiverHawks.

First Touches
1. NSU is 7-6 this season and 5-4 in conference action. They are coming off a 4-1 win over No. 18 Fort Hays State on Saturday. Flynn Semmerling provided a first-half hat trick to hand the Tigers their first conference loss since 2017. It was the first time Semmerling has recorded a hat trick in a RiverHawks uniform and the first hat trick for NSU since Oct. 27, 2018.

2. Semmerling leads the RiverHawks in multiple categories, including goals (8), shots on goal (19) and match-winning goals (3). Ben Watson is behind him with four goals while Aaron Ugbah has three goals and three assists. Tom Singhgolden also has three assists, with two goals on the season. Justin Hinman has played the majority of time in goal, racking up 41 saves in 1,129 minutes played so far.

3. On Tuesday, it was announced that the RiverHawks had swept the GAC weekly awards. Semmerling was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Week, Sadaam Yousufzai was named Defender of the Week and Hinman was tabbed the Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season. In total, the RiverHawks have received weekly honors five times this season.

4. The RiverHawks faced both opponents earlier this season. They beat Okla. Baptist 3-0 on Sept. 28 at DeLoache Field behind two goals from Watson and five saves from Hinman. The win came two days after they topped the Crimson Storm 4-2 thanks to two goals from Semmerling.

5. The win over Southern Nazarene was the 100th career win for head coach Rob Czlonka, who is in his ninth season. NSU has known a lot of success under Czlonka, having qualified four times for the NCAA Tournament, including two trips to the NCAA Elite 8 (2015, 2017) and two trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 (2014, 2018). Czlonka entered the season with the fourth-best winning percentage among active NCAA Division II head coaches.

6. The Bison are 4-8-1 this season, with a record of 2-6-1 in conference action. They will enter the weekend on a one-match losing streak following a 6-3 loss to Harding on Saturday. Alejandro Castillo and Dominic Gibson both have five goals this season while Peterson Costa is right behind them with four. Luis Romero has 23 shots on goal this season to lead in that category. Elias Diaz and Parker Lawter have split time in net, with Lawter making 35 saves and Diaz making 28.

7. The Crimson Storm are 2-10-1 this season, and 1-7-1 in conference play. They will host Rogers State on Thursday before welcoming the RiverHawks. Southern Nazarene hasn't won a match since Oct. 4 when they topped Okla. Baptist 5-1. Guy Esquivel leads the team with four goals, though Angel Lopez and Eric Romero are right behind him with three.  Bence Mocsari has played most of the season in net, making 49 saves.

Looking Ahead: The RiverHawks will conclude their road trip on Nov. 1 against Rogers State before returning to Tahlequah to host their final home match of the regular season on Nov. 7.