NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene men's soccer coach Adam Pearce doesn't believe in moral victories.

So, while his Nighthawks played much better Thursday against Simon Fraser, he was still disappointed in the 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference loss.

"I challenged them to step up from kickoff and our goal was to put a game plan in front of them and the boys executed," Pearce said. "We had the ball a lot and had balls in dangerous spots and created some chaos in the box, but we still have to get more clinical in our finishing."

The Nighthawks (4-6-0 overall, 0-4-0 GNAC) appeared certain to score a goal in the first half, but a save by Simon Fraser and a strong play by a Clan defender kept NNU at bay.

"Against good teams we have to finish," Pearce said. "We had one good shot in the first half and so did they. Ours doesn't go in somehow and of course theirs does with a class finish from an All-American player."

Simon Fraser's Matteo Polisi scored in the 21st minute on an assist from Eric de Graaf. That was all that the Clan (6-2-0, 3-1-0) needed.

But it wasn't for a lack of trying by the Nighthawks.

NNU, which gave up eight goals in two losses on the road last week, played much more cohesively Thursday on both offense and defense. Playing against one of the best teams traditionally in NCAA Division II, there were Nighthawks players flying everywhere.

"We came out with fire and did our best and played well against a good team," NNU defender Danny Cuevas said. "Last week we had some mental things that cost us early, but today we had more fire and a better start."

NNU was outshot 11-5 overall, but just 6-4 on goal. Jake Levine, Max Hartley, Aoci Watambela and Aidan McGinty all put shots on frame.

Freshman goalkeeper Sawyer Price made five saves for the Nighthawks in his second start.

"His performance tonight, that wasn't a first-year guy; he was playing big," Pearce said. "I'm really proud of our goalkeeping corps. I think there is strength and stability there for the future."

Pearce credited Alex Nadermann, who had started the first eight games of the season, with not only being a team player and supporting Price, but helping push him in practice to help the freshman continue to improve.

NNU hosts Western Washington at 2 p.m. Saturday in search of their first GNAC win of the season.

"We know that if we go out and put together our best performance it is good enough to get results," Pearce said. "I'm really pleased with the performance tonight. I'm disappointed we didn't get a point out of it, but it is a statement of the competitive ability of our guys and the overall technical ability to get the job done."