TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Harding men's soccer's quest for its first victory against a nationally-ranked team fell short Saturday as the Bisons lost 4-0 to No. 16 Northeastern State in MIAA action.

It was the first conference loss for Harding, who fell to 2-3-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the MIAA. Northeastern State improved to 6-2-0 overall and remained undefeated in conference at 4-0-0.

Harding went 2-1-1 on its four-game road trip and returns to Searcy to take on Upper Iowa in an MIAA matchup on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m.

With a 3-0 halftime lead, Northeastern State put the game away early in the second half. The RiverHawks took the first seven shots of the second half with Trevor Reed scoring his first goal of the season in the 69th minute.

Northeastern State scored on two of its first three shots in the game and led 2-0 after only 12 minutes of play.

The first came as Frank Garay collected a loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box and scored his first goal of the season only 100 seconds into the game. It was the second time this season Harding allowed a goal within the first two minutes of the game.

Harding looked to quickly equalize, taking the game's next five shots, including a shot by Gehrig Haberstock that hit the post.

But Northeastern scored again in the 12th minute. Juan Peralta netted his third goal of the season on a rebound off a shot by Crosby Lee.

RiverHawk Jonathan Guzman scored in the 32nd minute to give Northeastern State a 3-0 lead.