BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene women's soccer got back to their winning ways on Thursday with a 3-1 victory on the road at Montana State Billings.
NNU moves to 11-2-4 on the year and 9-1-3 in GNAC play with just one more game to play in the regular season. The Nighthawks have already clinched at least the two-seed in the GNAC Championships that will be hosted in Nampa on Nov. 3 and 5.
How It Happened
NNU opened the scoring in the 33
rd minute.
Savanna Herz was taken down just inside the box on the far side for a penalty, and
Madison Grande stepped right up and converted with ease, freezing the keeper with a low line drive kick into the far corner of the net.
The Nighthawks doubled their lead in the 65
th minute, starting with
Magda Wronski sending a good ball across midfield into the middle for
Sierra Sanchez. Sanchez took a few dribbles and dished to
Carolyn Moravec on the far side, who juked one defender and curled a shot around the keeper's left side for the goal.
The Yellowjackets countered almost immediately, however, earning a corner kick less than a minute later and converting after an initial shot was saved by
Alexis Montoya but deflected to an MSUB player right in front of the open net.
NNU would build the lead back up to two before the game was over, however, as in the 80
th minute
Ashley Parton raced down the right side with the ball and fired a low liner across the face of the goal to
Madison Grande, who knocked it in to make it 3-1.
Nighthawks Notes
- With the win, the Nighthawks ensure at least the 2-seed in the upcoming GNAC Championships as they will be at least five points ahead of third-place Seattle Pacific following tonight's games. NNU could only move into the top seed if they win on Saturday and Western Washington loses both Thursday and Saturday
- The Nighthawks and Yellowjackets were fairly close in terms of shot attempts, with NNU holding a 15-14 edge in total shots and a 9-6 advantage in shots on target
- Alexis Montoya had five saves for the Nighthawks
- Grande scored two goals in a match for the third time in her career, moving into a tie for third all-time in NNU history with 10 goals on the season
- Grande also moves into a tie for third in program history with 22 career goals and sixth with 45 career points
- Moravec's goal was the seventh of her career
- Wronski has now played more games than any other player in Northwest Nazarene women's soccer history with 80, passing 2021 graduate Jade Zimmer
Next Up
The Nighthawks will remain on the road for their final game of the regular season, visiting Seattle Pacific on Saturday at 4:00 pm. Pacific.
