Boxscore and Stats

LACEY, Wash. - Scoring three goals in under seven minutes, the Northwest Nazarene women's soccer team rallied to claim a 4-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory over Saint Martin's University on Thursday afternoon in Lacey.

 

The Crusaders (4-5-0, 2-3-0 GNAC) trailed 3-1 in the 68th-minute when SMU's Jill Webb converted a penalty kick for her second goal of the afternoon.  Webb had scored just one minute earlier after stealing the ball from a Crusader defender and sending into the top-right corner of the goal.

 

Stacey Beckman started the furious NNU rally, converting a battle in the box and scoring as Julianne Steele and Marie Smith each earned assists to make it 3-2.  Jessie Cahill evened the score just 25-seconds later, stealing the ball from a Saint's defender and collecting an unassisted tally. 

 

Tied at 3-3, Beckman collected the game-winner in the 81st-minute, taking a Cahill cross from the left side just inside the right post.

 

"Scoring three goals in seven minutes was just a great show of character for our girls," commented NNU head coach Jamie Lindvall.  "Jesse (Cahill) moved to forward today for the first time in her career and scored her first goal and set up the game-winning goal, capping one of the best comebacks I've seen."

 

The Crusaders had opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Steele blasted a free-kick from 40-yards, however, Saint Martin's (1-8-0, 0-5-0 GNAC) tied it in the 25th-minute on a Julianna Sackeyfio conversion of a deflected free kick and the teams played into the halftime break at 1-1.

 

"A great goal by Julianne in the first half," Lindvall added.  "Today was just a terrific effort."

 

Saint Martin's finished with a 17-11 edge in shots and a 9-3 corner kick advantage.

 

NNU's Tanya Zickefoose made eight saves, while SMU's Gina Cardenas collected four.

 

NNU will travel to Monmouth, Oregon and face Western Oregon University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PT in a GNAC counter.