LACEY, Wash. - Northwest Nazarene women's soccer fought off a late charge by Saint Martin's to defeat the Saints 3-2 on the road.

NNU has now won all three against SMU this year, and improves to 9-0-0 on the season. Today's match was the closest contest that the 13th-ranked Nighthawks have had for a while, marking the first time in over a month that NNU's defense has given up a goal, snapping a streak of four-straight shutouts. 

The Nighthawks jumped out in front with the only goal of the opening half, as Rikki Myers found Ashley Parton for a tally in just the fourth minute of action to give NNU the early lead.

Over fifty minutes later, the second goal was finally scored, with the Myers to Parton connection working again as the duo teamed up to put NNU up 2-0. The Saints would get on the board almost immediately after that second goal, however, cutting the deficit in half just 46 seconds later.

NNU quickly put an end to that spark, though, as Madison Grande scored off a feed from Kailyn LaBrosse three minutes later in the 64th minute to bring the lead back to 3-1. SMU scored again in the 80th minute, but the Nighthawks were able to hold the Saints off the board in the final 10 minutes to preserve the victory.

The Nighthawks made a lot of noise on the offensive end, putting seven shots on goal and earning eight corners in the match. 

NNU and SMU will face off for a fourth and final time on Saturday, set for a 2:00 p.m. Pacific start.