Kearney, Neb. – The Northeastern State RiverHawks scored early in the second half to edge Nebraska Kearney, 2-1, Sunday afternoon in Tahlequah, Okla.

NSU, ranked seventh in the Central Region, improves to 13-2 (7-2) while UNK falls to 4-9-3 (1-7-1). The game was pushed back to a 2 p.m. start due to heavy rain Saturday night. Despite the setback, the Lopers, with two regular season games remaining, still have post season hopes.

"I'm very happy with the way we connected passes and moved the ball today. In doing so, we caused a very good NSU team some problems and were unlucky not to get more out of the game," said Loper head coach Chloe Roberts. "We've made a lot of progress this year and you can see that in the way we play."

Having a 13-4 shot advantage on the day, NSU got on the board nine minutes into the action when sophomore Mariah Nicolet tallied her seventh goal of the year. The assist went to sophomore Sarah Rector.

UNK countered right before half after the 'Hawks committed one of its eight fouls. Papillion junior Kelsie Ienn scored via free kick, her first goal of 2017 and her fourth career goal.

NSU, which took all four corners in the game, tallied the game winner eight minutes into the second half when true freshman Paulina Chavez scored her ninth goal of 2017. The 'Hawks now have 35 goals on the year, fourth best in the MIAA.

The Lopers weren't credited with a second half shot with NSU junior keeper Meg Smith having one save on the day. Kearney junior Allie Prososki made five saves, three coming in the first half.

"We just have to find that little extra positive attacking mentality for the whole 90 minutes in the final third," said Roberts. "This team has a lot of fight in them and we know that postseason is still possible."

Besides Ienn, Norfolk sophomore Maddie Love had UNK's other shot on goal. Finally, Ienn was one of three Lopers to go all 90 minutes.

UNK heads to Emporia State and Fort Hays State next weekend to close out the regular season.