LACEY, Wash. — The Crusaders built vital momentum with a victory Monday at home.

Thursday, the Northwest Nazarene women's soccer team packed that momentum and took it on the road, fueling a 3-1 win at St. Martin's in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

"I'm proud of how our team responded today," said head NNU women's soccer coach Mary Trigg. "We struggled in the first half to keep possession and we talked about what needed to change at halftime and the girls executed it in the second half perfectly."

The Saints dominated in terms of possession, corner-kicks (5-0) and shots (15-5) in the opening 45 minutes, but not on the scoreboard thanks in part to NNU goalkeeper Daniele Ortiz.

The freshman from Sunnyvale, Calif., who was the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 6, made 10 saves in the win for NNU, keeping St. Martin's at bay.

Her teammates helped her out with an early edge as Ashley Cook-Cox put in a cross from Lexi Fesenbek with 22 minutes, 51 seconds gone in the contest.

The Crusaders (2-1-2 overall, 1-0 GNAC) maintained that lead for about 13 minutes when Kelli Bannerman tied it for the Saints (0-4-1, 0-1), but NNU answered quickly.

Just 2:55 after SMU tied it, Laura Seymour set up Fesenbek for the game-winner for the Crusaders, who then protected their 2-1 lead with a strong second-half performance.

Following their coaches halftime instructions, NNU pushed the play at St. Martin's, outshooting SMU, 7-6, in the second half, holding a commanding 10-0 edge in corners, and icing the victory when Nicole Nsa scored unassisted 10:11 into the final stanza.

"It was great to see three different girls score today," said Trigg, whose team has netted seven total goals this week — including a 4-2 win Monday at home over Dominican (Calif.) — and got those goals from six different players.

The Crusaders now look to maintain their winning momentum as they head to Western Oregon to play the Wolves on Saturday at 11 a.m. (PT).