Boxscore

LACEY, Wash. – The Northwest Nazarene University men's soccer team battled to a 2-1 double-overtime loss at Saint Martin's University on Thursday afternoon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the City of Lacey Regional Athletic Complex.

“I thought it was a great team effort for us today and it was one of those conference battles that could go either way,” commented NNU head coach Coe Michaelson.  “For us it's about not getting our heads down, picking it up, and now going out to get the next one.”

Austin Kelley scored the game-winning goal in the 105th-minute for the Saints, a header that found the upper right corner of the goal off a Brandon Scott long-distance throw-in.  The win moves Saint Martin's to 6-4-0 overall and 1-0-0 in GNAC play.

The Crusaders (3-5-0, 0-1-0 GNAC) struck first in the 39th-minute when Alonso Avila finished an Alex Mangeac assist to the lower left corner, beating SMU goalkeeper Zac Lubin on the ground.

The Saints rebounded to force the overtime in the 54th-minute when Zan Nixon played a through-ball inside the far post as both Vlad Voin and Victor Kelmel earned assists on the strike.

SMU held a 23-8 shot advantage as NNU keeper Zander Engemann collected five saves.  Lubin finished with four saves for SMU.

The Crusaders will now travel to Western Washington University and face the Vikings on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. PT in Bellingham.