NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene women's soccer earned their biggest victory of the season, and arguably program history, on Thursday night, upsetting the 18
th-ranked Western Washington Vikings 2-1 on NNU Field.
How It Happened
- Things did not start off the Nighthawks' way, as it was Western Washington who got on the board first in the sixth minute.
- However, NNU responded almost immediately as just 90 seconds later, Madison Grande took a feed from Ashley Parton in the middle of the box and slotted it home to even the match at 1-1.
- It would take all the way until the 81st minute before either team would put another goal on the board, and it was Grande again after taking a pass from Kailyn LaBrosse and beating WWU keeper Natalie Dierickx one-on-one to put the Nighthawks on top.
- The Vikings nearly sent the game into extra time, putting a dangerous ball into the box in the final seconds, but it was cleared away as time expired to preserve the stunning victory.
Nighthawks Notes
- This was the 40th game played between WWU and NNU in program histories, and just the second time that Northwest Nazarene has emerged victorious.
- The win snaps an 18-game WWU win streak in the series, with the only other Nighthawk win coming in 2003 when NNU won 2-0 at home.
- NNU improves to 7-3-2 in GNAC play with the win, keeping hold of the third spot in the conference standings and moving just two points back of WWU for second with three games to play.
- NNU and WWU were both just ranked in the first edition of the NCAA West Region rankings, with the Vikings second and the Nighthawks sixth.
- Grande's two goals extend her team lead for the season to seven. It was also the first two-goal effort of her collegiate career.
- With the victory and clean sheet, Alexis Montoya now holds the program records for goalkeeper wins and shutouts with 24 and 18, respectively.
Up Next
NNU has another critical match coming up this Saturday when they host Simon Fraser at 1:00 p.m. at NNU Field. SFU is currently fourth in the GNAC standings, so a win would go a long way in the Nighthawks claiming at least the third seed in the conference tournament.
