Box Score




NAMPA, Idaho — The conference opener wasn't supposed to go like this for the Crusaders.

Much to the chagrin of head coach Mary Trigg, her Northwest Nazarene women's soccer team didn't control the ball as much as she would have liked, opening the door for perennial powerhouse Seattle Pacific to score a 3-0 win in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Finkbeiner Park on the NNU campus on Saturday.

"We had a game-plan and we went away from it," Coach Trigg said. "This is the type of a team and game that we have to be disciplined, we have to stick to the game-plan, and when we go away from it they punish us.

"That's what happened today."
 

The game-plan for the Crusaders (2-4-0 overall, 0-1-0 GNAC) was to possess the ball and control the pace of the game.

But turnovers allowed the Falcons (4-1-1, 1-0-0) to create scoring chances, and they cashed in early as Hannah Huesers booted home what proved to be the game-winner with 4 minutes, 14 seconds gone in the action.

Doing their best to stick to the game-plan, NNU weathered that early goal and had some great chances of its own to even the score, including a point-blank blast by Ashley Cook-Cox in the 39^th minute that Falcons goalkeeper Molly Stinson turned aside, keeping SPU on top.

Down just a goal after the break, the Crusaders pushed the attack over the opening 10 minutes of the second half, but couldn't even the game.

Then, the small breakdowns in the game-plan crept in and the Falcons began re-establishing their attack, eventually icing the victory with a goal by Sydnee Smith in the 76^th minute, and another by Kasey Reeve 1:07 later.

Daniele Ortiz made four saves in goal in the contest for the Crusaders, who look to rebound on the road this week as they play at Concordia on Thursday night, then at Western Oregon next Saturday.