TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State men's soccer is the third seed in the Great American Conference Championship Tournament and will play at No. 2 seed Fort Hays State Saturday at 1 p.m.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

• As a member of the GAC 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 Tournament. Top seeded #8 Rogers State (4-0-2) will host No. 4 Southern Nazarene (3-3) Friday at 7 p.m. in Claremore. The championship match will be played on Saturday, April 17 with the kickoff time to be determined at the top seeded school venue.
• The RiverHawks and #19 Tigers have met in the postseason multiple times. In the last meeting FHSU downed NSU 3-1 in the Sweet 16 in 2018. In 2017, the RiverHawks beat the Tigers to advance to the Elite 8.

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 last Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY

• FHSU scored twice within 13 minutes to win 2-1 the lone meeting this spring. Flynn Semmerling scored on a penalty kick in the 83rd minute for the RiverHawks' tally.
• Fort Hays State leads the series 11-8-5 since 2011.
• Hays, Kansas, is an eight-hour drive from Tahlequah and has not been kind to Northeastern State as the RiverHawks have dropped the last six at FHSU Soccer Stadium.
• The teams split the home-and-home series in 2019.

RIVERHAWKS INSIGHTS

1. James Doyle has been named the GAC Defender of the Week twice this season.
2. Doyle leads the GAC with 13 points and had a hat trick in the Senior Day win over OBU. He has seen six of his 16 shots find the back of the net.
3. Flynn Semmerling, Ryan McCully and Ameer Madden join him with multiple goals this season.
4. Madden earned the starting nod just once this spring but has scored twice and all five of his shots have been on goal.
5. Sam Scarth leads the conference with seven assists, four more than the next best. His 1.17 per game is the best nationally.
6. Midfielder Luis Soler is the lone RiverHawk to play every minute of the season.
7. The RiverHawks have rotated their goaltenders this spring with Niklas Kirhoff and Brett Ekperuoh each seeing significant match minutes. Kirhoff played the entire game in Hays making four saves.
8. NSU leads the conference in corner kicks with 35, goals with 17 and assists with 20.
9. The RiverHawks score 2.83 goals per game to go with the nations second-best assist average of 3.33.
10. Tenth year head coach Rob Czlonka has compiled a 111-51-14 with nine winning seasons.

ABOUT THE TIGERS

1. The Tigers finished the regular season 4-1-1. They are coming off a 1-1 draw at #8 Rogers State.
2. FHSU allowed just 0.80 goals per game and posted four shutouts this spring.
3. Offensively, Fort Hays State led the GAC with 114 shots, the 19.0 per game is sixth nationally, and scored the second-most goals per match in the conference with 2.17.
4. Blake Arndt takes 5.67 shots per match and is second in the conference scoring 0.83 goals per game. He has three game-winning tallies. Kevin Brown is third with eight points for the Tigers and has a .400 shot on goal percentage.
5. Goaltender Kieran Brown allowed just 0.52 goals per game and led the GAC with a .880 save percentage.

MATCH COVERAGE

• Live statistics and a video stream will be provided via goriverhawksgo.com and the MIAA Network.
• Fort Hays State allows 25 percent fan capacity and tickets can be purchased at the FHSU Soccer Stadium gate.
• Fans can follow the team on Twitter at @RiverHawksMSOC.