TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State men's soccer makes its final regular season road trip of the spring season before GAC postseason play Friday evening to Fort Hays State.
 
First touches

1. The 6:30 p.m. match will be a test and potential postseason preview as both teams have identical 3-1 records. Northeastern State was off last week for spring break and has not played since March 13. Fort Hays beat Harding on March 20.
2. NSU beat Southern Nazarene, 2-1 on Feb. 26 to open the season and after a 10 day layoff NSU fell to Rogers State 4-1 in Claremore. The RiverHawks are riding back-to-back 3-2 overtime victories over Harding and Newman.
3. James Doyle has been named GAC Defender of the Week twice, most recently on March 18. He has played every minute of the season along with Luis Soler, Cameron McCurdy and Flynn Semmerling. Doyle has scored three goals to lead the team and is tied for second in the conference.
4. Two sophomores, Nick Garcia and Ameer Madden, have found the back of the net for the extra time victories. Madden won it at Harding while Garcia was the hero most recently versus Newman.
5. Sam Scarth has assisted on five of NSU's nine goals this season to tie for second in the GAC with seven points while Soler and McCully each have two apiece. The RiverHawks lead the conference in assists per game with 3.0, nearly double the next team. Additionally, NSU has taken the second-most shots.
6. Head coach Rob Czlonka has used all three of his goaltenders this season. Niklas Kirhoff has earned the start in each match and has a 1.98 goals against average.
7. Dating back to 2011, Fort Hays State holds an 10-8-5 advantage over Northeastern State. The RiverHawks split the home-and-home season series in 2019 but have dropped the last five in Hays.
8. Fort Hays State 3-1 on the season only playing in GAC matches. The Friday match will be its first in Hays in nearly a month. The Tigers were picked third in the preseason coaches' poll narrowly edging out the RiverHawks. They lead the conference in shots taken (76) and goals against (0.75).
9. FHSU allows 25 percent fan capacity and asks that fans socially distance the best they can at the soccer stadium.

Up next: NSU will host Ouachita Baptist on Saturday, April 3, at 2 p.m. on the turf of Gable Field to close the regular season.