TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State opens the MIAA Tournament on Friday night when they host Newman at DeLoache Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., with live video available on The MIAA Network and live stats available on goriverhawksgo.com.
 
First Touches
1. The RiverHawks finished the regular season with a record of 13-4-1 and received the number two seed in the MIAA Tournament. This is the eighth consecutive season that the RiverHawks have qualified for the MIAA Tournament. They will enter the tournament on a three-match win streak.

2. NSU is currently ranked fifth in the Central Region Rankings, which came out on Wednesday afternoon. If the Regional Tournament were to start this weekend, NSU would face Augustana (SD) at Central Missouri, with the winner facing the Jennies, who are ranked No. 1 in the region.

3. Mariah Nicolet leads the RiverHawks with 12 goals on the season, with six match-winning goals. Paulina Chavez has eight goals off 21 shots on goal and two assists. Ainsley Cunningham and Brennan Hockett have split time in net this season, with Cunningham making 30 saves and Hockett making 32 saves.

4. This will be the second time in five days that NSU has faced the Jets, and the third time this season. The RiverHawks wrapped up the regular season with a 2-0 win over the Jets on Sunday, thanks to goals from Chavez and Nicolet as well as two saves from Cunningham. The RiverHawks also beat the Jets 3-2 on Sept. 27 thanks to a 72nd-minute goal from Chavez that broke a 2-2 tie. NSU is now 9-1 all-time against Newman.

5. Chase Wooten is in his ninth season as head coach of the RiverHawks, with a career record of 121-54-15, the best in school history. This is the eighth consecutive season that he has taken NSU to the conference tournament. NSU reached the conference finals in 2015.

6. The MIAA on Thursday announced that Wooten was named MIAA Coach of the Year for the second time. Five student-athletes also received conference honors, including Emily Seiler and Nicolet being names First Team All-MIAA. Chavez and Sarah Rector were names Second Team All-MIAA while Leslie Munoz was named Honorable Mention for the second straight year.

7. The Jets finished the regular season with a 7-5-6 record and a two-match losing streak. They are the number seven seed in the tournament. Kennedy Weaver leads the Jets with seven goals, seven assists and three match-winning goals. Vanessa Ortiz and Kyla Kreemer both have three goals and one assist on the season. Jackie Larie has played 16 matches in net, making 74 saves and recording eight shutouts.
 
Looking Ahead: The winner will face either the No. 3 seed Emporia State or the No. 6 seed Northwest Missouri. Those two will face off in Emporia on Friday afternoon. Central Missouri is the No. 1 seed and will host Washburn on Friday night. Central Okla. got the No. 4 seed and will host Fort Hays on Friday. The conference semifinals and championship will be hosted by the highest seed remaining.