NAMPA — Tied by a late goal might prove disheartening, but the Northwest Nazarene men's soccer team certainly couldn't complain Saturday.

Starting the day flat, the Crusaders got a lift from a fall storm that brought out a 30-minute lightning delay, giving coach Coe Michaelson a chance to spark his troops who rallied for a 2-2 tie against St. Martin's in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

“If we were playing well the whole game it might look as a disappointment, but since we had to come from behind and finish the way we did, it's still good,” NNU midfielder Brock Ogami said. “We still should have got the win but we'll take a tie.”

The soggy field didn't slow the Saints (1-8-1 overall, 0-2-1 GNAC) early, as Austin Kelley sent a long ball forward from the left sideline to the NNU box, where Anthony Armitage hustled past the Crusader defense and booted it on a hop past NNU keeper Alexander Engemann for a 1-0 lead 7 1/2 minutes into the game.

“Unfortunately we just came out a little sluggish and gave up an early goal and put ourselves in a hole,” Michaelson said.

NNU (8-2-2, 1-2-1) did little to get itself out that hole until lightning overhead prompted a safety delay with 10:06 left in the opening half.

Thirty minutes for the Crusaders to reflect.

“I said that you never want to lose a game for a lack of desire and that's what it looked like when we came out the first 30 minutes,” Michaelson told his team during the delay.

“We were just told to come out and play with heart and show that we actually care,” Ogami said, adding, “and no one wants to lose on their home field, so that kinda was a motivation, too.”

Playing with more passion, Jose Oregon, Alex Mangeac and Josh Grewe all had chances before halftime, but NNU still trailed 1-0.

That changed in the 62nd minute thanks to Ogami, who booted home a rebound after Saints keeper Zac Lubin made the save on a Nate Hamm header off a Ben Mangeac cross.

Seven minutes later, Ben Mangeac grabbed a failed clearing attempt by the Saints defense and beat Lubin (9 saves) for a 2-1 edge.

“We worked as a team, showed a lot of heart and desire to come back, we should have got a win,” Ogami said.

Instead, St. Martin's tied it as Ruben Orozco flicked a Lubin goal kick forward to Xan Nixon who beat Engemann (5 saves) 1-on-1 with 6 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

Neither team managed to score in two 10-minute overtimes, though Kyle Gaedke had a good chance in each half for NNU, forcing the Crusaders to take the tie.

“Certainly can't fault the effort of us after the storm break,” Michaelson said. “We came out and really showed what we are capable of doing and were certainly the better team from that point on.”