Northwest Nazarene rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie Montana State Billings 2-2 Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Billings.

Sam Charles got MSUB (7-2-2, 2-0-2) off to a 1-0 lead scoring in the seventh minute to extend his GNAC record streak of games with a point to 14.  MSUB then went ahead 2-0 in the opening minute of the second half on a goal by Garion Holian.

NNU (3-6-1, 0-2-1), however, got unassisted goals from Matt Larson at 54:55 and John Stump at 70:19 to tie it. The two teams then played 40 more scoreless minutes minutes before settling for the tie.

"We really showed good character today," commented NNU head coach Coe Michaelson.  "Coming back from being down two goals and staying focused was a big step for us today.  We played without some key people and I think a draw was a fair result.  We gave up an early goal in each half, but settled down in both halves and in the overtimes.  The match could have gone either way, so to get a draw on the road against a good MSUB team...we are happy with that."

MSUB, which got assists on both of its goals from Jeremy DeHerrera, finished the contest with an 18-13 shot advantage, including 12-7 on goal. The 'Jackets also had a 6-1 edge in corner kicks.

MSUB goalkeeper Matt Mitchell had five saves, while Cesar Lira, a former JC All-American at North Idaho, had eight saves in his NNU debut.

The Crusaders will stay in Billings and face the University of Mary on Monday afternoon in a non-conference match at Noon.