The Lindenwood men's soccer team defeated the Northeastern State RiverHawks 4-1 on Friday evening from Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.

For the second consecutive game, Xhovani Dokaj scored within the opening two minutes of the game for Lindenwood, scoring with exactly two minutes gone by. Dokaj received a long down field feed from Jose Sanchez and beat the Northeastern keeper, giving the Lions an early 1-0 lead. The goal represented the sixth score in three games for Dokaj, and his team-leading eighth of the season.

Lindenwood would extend its lead to 2-0 at the 10:22 mark of the first half off of a corner kick. Nijaz Muratovic took the corner for the Lions from the left side of the field, placing the ball in a perfect spot for teammate Thomas Hutcheson to guide it into the back of the net. For Hutcheson, the score was his fourth of the season.  

Hutcheson would score again in the game's 19th minute off of a Fernando Cordero feed, growing the Lindenwood lead to 3-0. The goal helped Hutcheson achieve his second multi-goal performance of the season.

Northeastern State cut into the Lindenwood lead in the 21st minute off of a free-kick opportunity, bringing the score to 3-1 in favor of the Lions.

Just before the end of the first half, in the 43rd minute, Dokaj tallied his second score of the game, and team-leading ninth goal of the season. Dokaj used his head to redirect a cross pass from Carlos del Campo, as the Lions moved ahead by a score of 4-1.

The second half of play saw plenty of back-and-forth action in the middle of the field, but the opportunities were minimal on both sides as the defensive units clamped down. The game would end by the final score of 4-1.

In goal for Lindenwood, Aleksa Nenadic made the start and turned in four saves as he earned his fourth victory of the season.

In the end, the two teams registered even totals in shots (13-13) and corner kicks (4-4). The Lions held the edge in shots on goal (6-5) and saves (4-2).

With the win, Lindenwood improves its season record to 4-2-2, and 1-0-0 in conference action. Following the defeat, Northeastern State moves to 3-4-0, and 0-1-0 in MIAA play. Lindenwood will return to action on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. when they welcome MIAA foe, Southwest Baptist to Hunter Stadium for an MIAA matchup.