Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern soccer program fell in a tightly contested game this afternoon to Northeastern State 2-0 at Hal Bodon Field.
 
The Lions (2-6-2, 1-2-0 MIAA) and the RiverHawks (4-4-2, 1-2-0 MIAA) exchanged possession and attacking chances early and often in a back-and-forth first half. Northeastern state got off two shots on goal in the opening ten minutes of the game and Maya Greenquist forced a save out of the RiverHawks goalie in the eighth minute from outside the box. 
 
The RiverHawks got seven shots in the opening frame with five being on goal, while the Lions had four shots at the half with shots on goal coming from Greenquist and Lainey Waldron from outside the box in the scoreless opening 45 minutes. The Lions worked their way to having seven corners in the first half while not allowing a single Northeastern State corner to be taken.
 
In the second half, Northeastern State grabbed the lead in the 49th minute off a Hannah Stettler goal before grabbing a late goal in the 84^th minute to seal the 2-0 win. The Lions registered five shots in the second half as two Jori Hays shots required a RiverHawks save, for Northeastern State they had eight shots at the half with four being on goal. The Lions had the advantage in corners having four in the second half compared to the RiverHawks one.
 
Hays, Waldron and Mackenzie Scholtz each had two shots in the game with Hays leading the team with two shots on goal. In goal Riley Laver collected seven saves in 90 minutes between the posts. Goalscorers for the RiverHawks were Stettler and Callie Rucker who had game-highs with five shots and three shots on goal, and Melanie Rice played all 90 minutes in goal for Northeastern finishing with four saves.
 
Up next for the Lions is a road game against Central Oklahoma on Friday, October 8^th. Kickoff from Tom Thompson Field in Edmond, Okla. is set for 7:00 pm.