TAHLEQUAH – The NSU Women's Soccer team will open the season on Thursday afternoon against Ouachita Baptist before returning home for their home opener against Northwestern Okla. on Saturday night.

Live stats for both matches can be found at goriverhawksgo.com.

First Touches
1. The RiverHawks enter the season coming off a 10-7-2 season. They will be led by a group of six seniors, Sarah Rector, Meagan Chase, Avery Tubb, Emily Seiler, Paige Lorenzo and Mariah Nicolet. They were picked to finish seventh in the MIAA this season according to the preseason coaches' poll
2. Last season, NSU defeated Ouachita Baptist and Northwestern Okla. by identical 2-0 scores. They are 13-1-1 all-time against Ouachita Baptist and 9-2 all-time against Northwestern Okla.
3. Chase Wooten is in his ninth season as head coach of the RiverHawks, with a career record of 106-50-14, the best in school history. He has taken NSU to the MIAA Tournament for seven straight seasons, including a berth in the conference finals in 2015.
4. Ouachita Baptist was projected to finish third in the Great American Conference, behind Oklahoma Baptist and Southwestern Okla. The Tigers are coming off a 9-9 season and are returning their leading scorer from one year ago in Ashlyn Heckman.
5. Northwestern Okla. looks slightly different from last year with first-year head coach Erik Solberg, who takes over a team that finished 3-9 in conference play last season and was selected to finish seventh in the GAC this season.

Up Next: The Northwestern Okla. match will open a four-match home stand for the RiverHawks, which will continue on Sept. 12 when they host Southern Nazarene and Sept. 14 when they host Harding University. They will open MIAA play on Sept. 29 against Central Oklahoma