TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State men's soccer will play Rogers State for the Great American Conference/Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association championship Friday at 7 p.m. in Claremore.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

• As a member of the GAC/MIAA since 2019, the RiverHawks have been the No. 3 seed both times.
• The top four teams in the six-match spring season made the GAC/MIAA Tournament. With its 1-0 semifinal win over Fort Hays State last weekend, NSU advances to its first conference tournament championship match since 2014.
• NSU is no stranger to postseason play, they made an NCAA Sweet 16 run in 2018 to follow up a 2017 Elite 8 finish. There are six players on the 2020 roster from 2018.
• Due to the NCAA Division II Presidents Council canceled the 2020 fall sports championships in August this will be the last contest for both teams.

SEASON RECAP

• NSU has finished with a winning record the past four seasons. Northeastern State finished the conference-only spring campaign with a 4-2 record.
• 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 then rode back-to-back 3-2 overtime victories over Harding and Newman. Northeastern State fell 2-1 at Fort Hays State on March 26 before dominating the second half at home versus Ouachita Baptist in a 7-0 tournament-clinching win.
• Five RiverHawks were named to the all-conference teams with Sam Scarth and James Doyle placed on the First-Team. Flynn Semmerling was a Second-Team performer with Luis Soler and Ryan McCully each recognized as Honorable Mentions.
• Northeastern State won back-to-back double-overtime matches 3-2. Rogers State on the other hand had two 1-1 draws to close the regular season.

SERIES HISTORY

• RSU downed NSU 4-1 on March 8 at Soldier Field. James Doyle was assisted by Brody Mueller for the lone RiverHawks tally. Heading into the match NSU was No. 20 nationally and has not broken into the rankings since.
• Rogers State has won the last four and Northeastern State has never won in Claremore. The teams did not begin playing on a yearly basis until 2018.
• In the 2019 tournament semifinal, the Hillcats won 2-0.

RIVERHAWKS INSIGHTS

1. James Doyle has been named the GAC/MIAA Defender of the Week twice this season.
2. Doyle leads the GAC/MIAA with 13 points and had a hat trick in the Senior Day win over Ouachita Baptist. He has seen six of his 16 shots find the back of the net and his 0.86 goals per game is 17th in all of Division II.
3. Flynn Semmerling, Ryan McCully and Ameer Madden join him with multiple goals this season. Nine different players on the roster have scored. Semmerling had the lone goal, his fourth of the spring, in the full-time semifinal win over Fort Hays State. Madden has earned the starting nod just once this spring but has scored twice and five of his six shots have been on goal.
4. Sam Scarth led the conference with eight assists, five more than the next best. His 1.14 per match is the best nationally.
5. Midfielder Luis Soler is the lone RiverHawk to play all 647 minutes of the season.
6. The RiverHawks have rotated their goaltenders this spring with Niklas Kirhoff and Brett Ekperuoh each seeing significant match minutes. Each made three saves at Fort Hays State. In the March 8 meeting with RSU Ekperouh made two saves in the second half after coming on for Kirhoff.
7. NSU is third nationally with 3.0 assists and 11th in points per game (8.1). The RiverHawks score 2.57 goals per match which is 15th in the nation.
8. Tenth year head coach Rob Czlonka has compiled a 112-51-14 with nine winning seasons since taking over in 2011.

ABOUT THE HILLCATS

1. The Hillcats finished the regular season 4-0-2, are ranked No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches national poll, and were the lone GAC/MIAA team to go undefeated. Rogers State was picked first in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll.
2. They are coming off a 1-0 home victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday in the semifinal matchup.
3. FHSU allowed just 0.71 goals per game and posted three shutouts this spring. They are a physical team and led the conference with 13.6 fouls per match.
4. Rogers State takes their time to get shots on goal. It has posted a 1.86 goals per match with 45.5 percent being on target.
5. Jordan Watson leads the balanced offensive attack with seven points and is joined by three other players with multiple goals.
6. Goaltender Dillon Dean was the second-best in the GAC/MIAA with a .773 save percentage. The RiverHawks got by the top goaltender last weekend at Fort Hays State.
7. Head Coach Derek Larkin has been the only coach for the RSU program since it was created in 2007.

MATCH COVERAGE

• Live statistics and a video stream will be provided via goriverhawksgo.com and the MIAA Network.
• Rogers State allows 25 percent fan capacity at Soldier Field in Claremore.
• Fans can follow the team on Twitter at @RiverHawksMSOC.