Box Score




NAMPA, Idaho — The Crusader women came "oh so close" to making the most of their chance at a rare upset Thursday afternoon.

Playing the No. 1-ranked team in the country, the Northwest Nazarene women's soccer team hung right with visiting Western Washington and had its chances to draw even as a lone early goal was all the separated the two teams in the Vikings 1-0 win over NNU in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Finkbeiner Park.

"Our girls — I told them, now I know what they're capable of so we need to rise to that every time," NNU head coach Mary Trigg said of the near-miss against the unbeaten GNAC champs.

"We played our hearts out, we were disciplined, we stuck to the game-plan that we talked about all week," Trigg added, "and they're not just fading away, they're working really hard."
 

With the Vikings (16-0-1 overall, 11-0-0 GNAC) already having claimed the GNAC title and a postseason berth, it might have been easy for NNU to fade away as the Crusaders were playing just for pride.

They should feel proud, too, as they played even all day with WWU, which only managed the win thanks to an early blast by Liv Larson just inside the right post with 4 minutes, 57 seconds gone from the game clock.

NNU goalkeeper Daniele Ortiz made eight saves in the contests, including a couple of keys stops, ensuring her teammates at least a chance at the upset.

The Crusaders nearly tied it in the 13^th minute of the game, but a Tennyson Young chance banged off the goal-post, instead, keeping NNU in comeback mode.

"We finish that really open chance in the first half and it's 1-1 and we're going to overtime," Trigg said after the game.

Vikings keeper Hillary O'Connor added a pair of saves, including a point-blank stop on the Crusaders' Sarah Jenkins, helping stave off NNU's upset bid.

But the effort should give the Crusaders plenty of momentum heading into their season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m., when NNU hosts Simon Fraser at Finkbeiner Park for "Senior Day."