Boxscore
NAMPA, Idaho -
Marie Smith converted a penalty kick in the 87th-minute to give the Northwest Nazarene University women's soccer team a 3-2 non-conference victory over Eastern Oregon University on Saturday afternoon at the NNU Soccer Field.
The Crusaders (1-0-1) were awarded the penalty attempt after Eastern Oregon (0-1-0) was whistled for a hand-ball inside the top of the box. Smith's goal finished inside the right post, just past EOU goalkeeper Allison Seymour's diving save attempt.
"Overall, I was proud of the way we played today," commented NNU head coach Jamie Lindvall. "We showed some good character and composure in the second half and finished with a solid performance."
NNU struck the opening goal in the 13th-minute when
Kendra Courcy took a free kick from 35-yards out on the right side. Her kick bounced in traffic directly in front of the goalmouth, sliding past EOU keeper Kalah Minter.
The Mountaineers answered with two goals in a nine-minute stretch, both from Tennly Paul-Bowden.
Paul-Bowden evened the game at 1-1 in the 24th-minute with a header inside the far post, finishing an impressive free kick from Kristina Roome. Roome lofted the free kick from 50-yards out, finding Paul-Bowden's head for the tally.
Paul-Bowden struck for the second time in the 31st-minute, beating NNU keeper Tanya Zickefoose inside the left post with a hard shot from 15-yards away for the unassisted goal.
The Crusaders would tie the match just four-minutes later when Sarah Staropoli netted her first collegiate goal, firing a free kick from 30-yards out on the left side past Minter.
The Crusaders out shot the Mountaineers 20-5 and held a 9-2 corner kick advantage. Both shots taken by EOU in the first half found the goal and NNU's Zickefoose was not forced into a save in the second half. EOU's Minter (2) and Seymour (3) combined for five saves.
The Crusaders will return to action next Wednesday, hosting Southern Oregon University at 4 p.m.
