Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. — The Crusaders will have to settle for playing a great game on the road as the final outcome went against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon.

The NNU women's soccer team battled back to tie the score only to see host Western Oregon net the game winner a few moments later for a 2-1 victory over the Crusaders in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"Western Oregon is a hard place to play at," NNU head coach Mary Trigg said. "We fought until the end and had good chances, just couldn't put enough in the back of the net."

The Crusaders (2-6-0 overall, 0-3-0 GNAC) played even throughout with the host Wolves, but Western Oregon jumped up early as Phoebe Hendry scored with 11 minutes, 37 seconds gone in the game.

Looking to answer, the Crusaders pushed the attack, and while going scoreless in the opening half, maintain the pressure and finally got the break they needed with 17:41 gone in the final stanza when Western Oregon was called for a hand ball in the goal-box.

Sarah Jenkins took the penalty kick and blasted it home for NNU, knotting the score at 1-1.

The brief tie didn't last long, though, as Mariah Konyn put the Wolves back on top for good 6:04 later with the game winner.

A disappointing result for the Crusaders who played virtually even with the host Wolves all game long, as WOU outshot NNU by a slim 13-11 margin.

Daniele Ortiz made seven saves in goal for the Crusaders, who now return home to host Montana State Billings on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Finkbeiner Park, and St. Martin's at 1 p.m. next Saturday.