SAN ANTONIO – After the biggest win in program history last Saturday, Northwest Nazarene men's soccer now heads to Texas for the Third Round, or regional semifinal, of the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championships.
 
The Nighthawks (14-3-3), the eight-seed in Super Region 4, will face the four-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros (15-1-5) on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 3:00 p.m. CT in San Antonio. The match will be played at Sigma Beta Chi Field on the campus of St. Mary's University, the two-seed and host of the regional semifinals and final.
 
St. Mary's (12-1-6) will square off with three-seed Colorado State Pueblo (16-3-2) following the Nighthawks' match on Thursday, slated for a 6:00 p.m. CT start. The winners of the semifinal matches will face each other on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT in the regional final, with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
 
Northwest Nazarene advanced through the First and Second Rounds last weekend in about as exciting of fashion as possible, starting with a penalty shootout against nine-seed West Texas A&M in the opening round. The Nighthawks and Buffs played to a 1-1 tie through 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, before NNU prevailed 6-5 in the penalties after back-to-back saves from Sawyer Price and the final conversion sent home by Zakaria Daaou.
 
In round two, NNU had the task of facing top regional seed and defending National Champions Cal State LA on their home field. The Nighthawks were more than up to the task, never trailing and shocking the Golden Eagles 2-1 on a brace from Lukas Juodkunaitis.
 
All three games during the weekend will be streamed live on the St. Mary's hub of the Lone Star Network, with the direct link for NNU's contest against CSUDH available here. Live stats are also available at this link for Thursday's contest. Tickets for the three games can be purchased on the St. Mary's official ticketing portal. The tickets are sold on a single-game basis and are $10 for adults, $7 for students with ID, $5 for seniors, $3 for children aged 2-12, and free for children under 2.
 
Nighthawks Notes
 
The Season

• Northwest Nazarene entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 8 seed in Super Region 4 with a 13-3-2 overall record and 9-2-1 mark in GNAC play (now 14-3-3 overall).
• The Nighthawks claimed the GNAC Regular-Season title for the first time in program history. The GNAC does not have a tournament for men's soccer, so the NCAA automatic bid is given to the regular season champion.
• The GNAC title was won in thrilling fashion, as the Nighthawks had to come from behind to stun Western Washington 2-1 with two goals in the final 90 seconds before holding off Seattle Pacific in a back-and-forth, 3-2 contest in the final week of the regular season to clinch the championship.
• NNU's 14 wins are now tied for the most in program history, equaling the mark set in the 2014 season, the only other time they have reached the NCAA postseason.
• The Nighthawks did not ever have two games in a row this season without a win, as all five draws/losses had wins come both before and after (with the exception of the season-opening draw)
• NNU went undefeated at home at NNU soccer field this season, going a perfect 8-0-0 without even a draw and outscoring opponents 19-5 in games played in Nampa.
• NNU has allowed just one goal or less in 15 of its 20 matches this season, going 13-0-2 in those contests. When NNU allowed two or more goals, they were 1-3-1.
• When NNU scores first, they are 10-0-2. When the opponent scores first, the Nighthawks are still dangerous with a 4-3-0 mark.
• When leading at half, NNU is 5-0-1. When trailing at half, they are 2-2-0. In games where the Nighthawks go into halftime even with their opponent, they have a great ability to win close games with a 7-1-2 record.
• On the national level, NNU is seventh in shot accuracy, placing 54.4% of their shot attempts on target.

 
Awards/Rankings

• NNU received nine GNAC Player of the Week Awards this year, more than any other program in the conference as Seattle Pacific was second with seven. Sawyer Price led the way with three Defensive honors from his goalkeeper position, while Jimmy Koufidakis notched two Offensive weekly awards. Jake Levine (Off.), Sullivan Smith (Off.), Lorenzo Valentini (Def.), and Braeden Anderson (Def.) each received one GNAC weekly honor.
• The Nighthawks earned nine All-Conference honors, the most in program history, led by the GNAC Coach of the Year in John Powell and Newcomer of the Year in Nestor Serrano. Lorenzo Valentini and Ethan Atterberry were named to the First Team, while Serrano, Jake Levine, Braeden Anderson, and Lukas Juodkunaitis earned Second Team honors. Sawyer Price and Jimmy Koufidakis received Honorable Mention recognition.
• NNU had four players garner All-Region honors from the D2CCA, with Lorenzo Valentini on the First Team and the trio of Jake Levine, Ethan Atterberry, Lukas Juodkunaitis on the Second Team.
• The Nighthawks also have four student-athletes on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District squad: Lorenzo Valentini, Sawyer Price, Lukas Juodkunaitis, and Jimmy Koufidakis.
• NNU was ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 once this season, coming in at 22nd in the Week 7 rankings on Oct. 18. The Nighthawks also received votes in the poll multiple times.
• NNU was picked to finish fourth in the GNAC Preseason Poll, outperforming that estimation by three spots with their GNAC Regular-Season Championship.

 
Athlete Analysis

• Jake Levine is the Nighthawks' biggest offensive threat, leading the team and ranking second in the GNAC in both goals (nine) and points (21). He also has three assists on the year. Levine has been a fundamental piece of NNU's attack for many years, as the sixth-year senior enters the NCAA Tournament eighth among all active Division II men's soccer players with 80 career points and tied for ninth with 32 career goals.
• Lukas Juodkunaitis is second on the team with seven goals and 18 points after notching both goals in the Second Round win over Cal State LA.
• Two Nighthawks are tied for second on the team with five goals apiece: Sullivan Smith and Jimmy Koufidakis. Koufidakis and Smith also each have one assist for 11 total points.
• Midfielder Jonathan Cardona leads the team and the GNAC this season with nine assists, including a three-assist effort in NNU's GNAC title clinching 3-2 win over Seattle Pacific in the final game of the regular season. He also has two goals on the year.
• Alan Soto Ortiz is tied for sixth on the team with eight points, coming from two goals and four assists. Both goals came in the final week of the regular season in huge spots, with the first the game-winner against Western Washington and the second during the NNU's back-and-forth battle with SPU.
• Ethan Atterberry and Nestor Serrano were both All-GNAC picks in the midfield, with Atterberry recording two goals and four assists and Serrano notching one assist.
• Lorenzo Valentini, Braeden Anderson, Raoul Barragan, and Cameron Natvig team up with goalkeeper Sawyer Price to lead the defense that has compiled seven shutouts this season and a 1.19 goals against average.
• Valentini, a three-time First Team All-GNAC pick and 2022 First Team All-Region performer, also has a goal and an assist this year.
• Head coach John Powell is in his second season at the helm of Northwest Nazarene men's soccer, holding a 22-11-3 (.653) overall record and 14-7-1 (.659) mark in conference play entering the weekend.

 
Record Watch

• Jake Levine will finish his career at or near the top of many categories in the NNU men's soccer career record books, as he is currently first in points (80), goals (32), game-winning goals (8), games played (77), and games started (72). He is also second in shots (174) and shots on goal (99) and third with 16 career assists.
• Lukas Juodkunaitis is currently fifth in the record books with 38 career points, tied for fifth with 14 goals, and tied for ninth with nine assists.
• Lorenzo Valentini is tied for ninth with 10 career goals and tied for second with 60 starts in his career.
• Brandon Parsio is tied for fourth with 12 career assists and second with 74 games played.
• Sawyer Price is second in career goalkeeper wins with 25 and third in career shutouts with 13.

 
NNU's Record vs. the Other Teams in San Antonio

• NNU is 1-0-2 all-time against Cal State Dominguez Hills, with all three matches coming in consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2017. The Nighthawks won the most recent match in 2017, 2-0, at CSUDH.
• NNU has never played St. Mary's in men's soccer.
• NNU is 0-1-0 all-time against CSU Pueblo, with the lone contest coming earlier this season on Sept. 3 in Billings, Montana. The Thunderwolves got the best of the Nighthawks that day, winning by a 6-0 final.

 
NNU's NCAA Championships History

• The 2022 NCAA Championships marks Northwest Nazarene men's soccer's second appearance in the NCAA postseason, joining the 2014 team.
• That year, NNU was the four-seed in the six-team West Region (the format changed to a combined West and South Central Super Region in 2019)
• The 2014 team won the program's first NCAA tournament game in the first appearance, defeating five-seed Simon Fraser 1-0 in the opening round before falling to two-seed Seattle Pacific in the second round.

 
Scouting the Toros
Dominguez Hills, the CCAA regular-season champions, return to NCAA Regionals as an at-large selection for the first time in six years.
 
The Toros were defeated by Cal State LA in the CCAA Tournament final to be handed their first loss of the season. CSUDH enters the weekend at 15-1-5 overall.
 
CSUDH earned a bye through the first round of the NCAA tournament before defeating fifth-seeded Colorado School of Mines 3-1 in round two.
 
They are led by CCAA Offensive Player of the Year Sulaiman Bah, who is fourth in the nation with 18 goals and third with 47 points.
 
Scouting the Rattlers
St. Mary's is the two-seed and host of the regional semifinals and finals in just their second NCAA postseason appearance. They earned qualification via an at-large bid.
 
The Rattlers defeated Midwestern State for the second-time this season with a 1-0 win in the second round after their first round bye. The defense broke the Lone Star Conference record for shutouts in a season with its 13th clean sheet, while sophomore Andrick Ferrer scored on a pass from senior Juan Jose Valdez Lopez in the 61st minute.
 
Junior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli is tied for the nation's lead in shutouts with 12 and is second in save percentage (.906) and goals against average (0.287).  The Rattlers as a team rank second in the Division II stats (199 teams) in save percentage (.891). The squad also ranks third in both shutout percentage (.684) and goals against average (.316).
 
Scouting the Thunderwolves
Colorado State Pueblo secured its first NCAA Tournament home game in school history and a second national tournament appearance in a row this season, earning the third seed in Super Region 4. They had a bye in the first round before taking down sixth-seeded Cal Poly Pomona 2-1 in the second round.
 
CSU Pueblo's 15-3-2 record ties for the most wins with the 1999 team that went 15-5-1.
 
The Pack entered the tournament with the 10th best goal differential in Division II, scoring 46 goals and allowing only 16 goals through twenty games. Defensively, the Pack is guided by RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Shjon Andrews. Andrews and the defensive unit have surrendered 16 goals, 19th best in the nation.
 
On the offensive side, twelve different players have scored at least one goal and are led by Gabriel Campora with 12 goals on the year. Pack goalkeeper Nils Roth sits 24th in the nation in goal-against average with a 0.813 mark.