PITTSBURG - The Pittsburg State University women's soccer team lost a tightly contested MIAA Tournament First Round match, 3-2 against the Northeastern State University RiverHawks on Sunday (Nov. 9) at the Gorilla Soccer Pitch.

For the first time in program history, the Gorillas (14-3-2) were playing in the MIAA Tournament and were hosts of the First Round match against NSU (12-6-1) after claiming the regular season title on the last day of the regular season. 

Both teams threatened early in the match before the RiverHawks got on the board in the 36th minute. Following a corner kick, NSU on the left wing sent in a second chance cross that held up in the wind enough to evade a punch attempt from Jocelyn Kramar and fall to Brooke Dodd who calmly put the ball into the back of the empty net. At the end of the first half, NSU held a 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard but the Gorillas registered more shots (12-6) and shots on goal (6-4) in the opening 45 minutes. 

Quickly into the second half, Northeastern State added a second goal. Sydney Taylor sent in a low cross from the right wing of the 18-yard box as Hannah Anderson beat her defender and a diving Kramar to poke the ball into the net in the 49th minute. NSU added a third goal in the match in the 53rd minute. Anderson collected a rebound from a blocked Brynn Baldon shot inside the 18-yard box and beat her defender before sending a near post shot into the top left corner of the goal.

Pittsburg State responded on the scoreboard in the 54th minute. After winning possession of the ball just outside the defensive 18-yard box, Adelynn Phipps found Macy Malik in the middle of the field, Malik proceeded to beat a trio of RiverHawks on her run that culminated in a powerful outside the box shot that beat a jumping Rebecca Partyka and flew into the roof of the goal. The second and final goal of the match for Pitt State came in the 77th minute. Following an attempted cross into the 18-yard box, Eileen Jeschke fouled Danae Hobson inside the box to award a penalty. Ella Cazzavillan stepped up and converted the penalty with Partyka diving the wrong direction.

Hunting a chance to tie it up, the Gorillas in the 87th and 88th minutes had chances that they were not able to convert. In the 87th minute, Shayla Hunt's attempt inside the six-yard box deflected off the left post and in the 88th minute, Malik's effort inside the 18-yard box beat an on rushing Partyka but dipped too late and went over the crossbar.

For the match, Pitt State finished with 25 shots, nine being shots on goal with five corner kicks taken. Kramar in the loss recorded three saves, Cazzavillan led the team with four shots on goal and Carrie Cunningham finished with a match-high six shots.

The Gorillas will now await the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Selection Show on Monday (Nov. 17) at 5:30 p.m. (CT) to see if they will receive an at-large bid. In the last set of regional rankings (Nov. 5), the Gorillas were No. 3.