LOS ANGELES – Northwest Nazarene men's soccer heads south to California for their second-ever appearance in the NCAA Championships this weekend, facing West Texas A&M on Thursday.
 
The opening weekend has pods of either two or three teams at each site in Super Region 4, which is made up of the traditional West and South Central Regions of Division II. Eight-seed NNU is in a pod with nine-seed West Texas A&M and top-seed Cal State Los Angeles, with games played on Thursday and Saturday.
 
NNU (13-3-2, 9-2-1 GNAC) will play a familiar foe in the opening round at 6:00 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, squaring off with the Lone Star Conference member Buffs (6-4-8, 4-1-5 Lone Star). The game will be played at top-seed Cal State Los Angeles' field, with the winner to face the defending National Champion Golden Eagles (15-1-3, 7-1-3 CCAA) at 6:00 p.m. Pacific on Saturday.
 
Seven other programs make up the rest of Super Region 4, starting with St. Mary's (TX) as the two-seed in the region, Colorado State Pueblo at 3, Cal State Dominguez Hills at 4, Colorado School of Mines at 5, Cal Poly Pomona at 6, Midwestern State at 7, and finally Biola in the 10th and final spot.
 
Both opening weekend games will be streamed live on Cal State LA's hub of the CCAA Network, with live stats also available at this link for both games. Tickets will be sold at the gate (no online option) and are cash only. General admission is $10 and it is $5 for students, seniors, and children.
 
Nighthawks Notes
 
The Season

• Northwest Nazarene comes into 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.
• 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.
• NNU's 13 wins are second-most in program history, trailing just the 14-win mark set in the 2014 season.
• 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 allowed just one goal or less in 13 of its 18 matches this season, going 12-0-1 in those contests. When NNU allowed two or more goals, they were 1-3-1.
• When NNU scores first, they are 9-0-1. 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 6-1-1 record.
• In the GNAC rankings, NNU is second with 33 goals, first with 1.83 goals per game, and second with 1.67 assists per game. On the defensive side, the Nighthawks are also third in shutouts
• On the national level, NNU is sixth in shot accuracy, placing 54.7% 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 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 (eight) and points (19). 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 tied for seventh among all active Division II men's soccer players with 78 career points and tied for ninth with 31 career goals.
• A trio of Nighthawks are tied for second on the team with five goals apiece: Lukas Juodkunaitis, Sullivan Smith, and Jimmy Koufidakis. Juodkunaitis has the edge in points with 13 due to his three assists, while Koufidakis and Smith each have one assist for 11 total points.
• Midfielder Jonathan Cardona led the team and the GNAC this season with eight 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 sixth on the team with eight points, coming from two goals and four assists. Both goals came last week 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 three assists and Serrano notching one assist.
• Lorenzo Valentini and Braeden Anderson team up with goalkeeper Sawyer Price to lead the defense that has compiled seven shutouts this season and a 1.22 goals against average.
• Valentini, a three-time First Team All-GNAC pick and 2021 Third 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 21-11-2 overall record and 14-7-1 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 (78), goals (31), game-winning goals (8), games played (75), and games started (70). He is also second in shots (168) and shots on goal (94) and third with 16 career assists.
• Lukas Juodkunaitis is currently tied for sixth in the record books with 33 career points, ninth with 12 goals, and tied for ninth with nine assists.
• Lorenzo Valentini is tied for ninth with 10 career goals and fourth with 58 starts in his career.
• Brandon Parsio is tied for fourth with 12 career assists and second with 72 games played.
• Sawyer Price is second in career goalkeeper wins with 24 and third in career shutouts with 13.

 
NNU's Record vs. Other Teams in the Pod

• NNU is 1-1 all-time against West Texas A&M, playing the Buffs once earlier this season and once last season. This year on Sept. 10 in Nampa, Sullivan Smith scored in the 33^rd minute to give the Nighthawks a 1-0 win over then No. 14-ranked WTAMU. Last year on Sept. 18, West Texas was victorious at home in Canyon with a 2-1 victory. Smith also had the Nighthawks' goal in the matchup last year.
• NNU is 0-2 all-time against Cal State LA, playing the Golden Eagles in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. The Nighthawks fell 2-0 in Nampa in 2018 and 4-0 in LA in 2019.

 
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 West Texas A&M
West Texas A&M (6-4-8, 4-1-5 Lone Star) earned an at-large bid out of the Lone Star Conference due to a very high strength of schedule. WTAMU earns their eight bid to the NCAA tournament in program history, most recently last year in 2021. Their highest finish was the quarterfinals (final eight teams) in 2018.
 
The Buffs have played a lot of tight contests this year, as evidenced by the eight draws in their overall record. WTAMU has outscored opponents 22-16 with only two of their games decided by more than one goal, a 4-0 win over Chaminade and a 2-0 win over Eastern New Mexico.
 
The offense revolves around Kenny Brown, who has accounted for 41% of the Buffs' goals this season with nine. He also has four assists to equal a team-high points total of 22. Giancarlo Saldana has the team's assists lead with five along with two goals for nine points. The Buffs have had a pair of keepers split time, led by 11 starts from Asaf Kristal with a 0.80 goals against average and five shutouts.
 
Scouting Cal State LA
Cal State LA (15-1-3, 7-1-3 CCAA), is making its 16th NCAA appearance and its 10th in the past 11 years. The Golden Eagles are the defending National Champions for Division II men's soccer.
 
The Golden Eagles, after finishing second in the regular season in the CCAA, won their second straight CCAA Tournament title and their fourth in the past five years with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday in San Bernardino on goals from Daniel Garcia and Oliver Diaz.
 
This season, they have outscored opponents 47-12, including 10 shutouts. CSULA's attack is extremely balanced, with 12 different players having scored at least twice this season and six players with 10 or more points. Bryan Ortega leads the way with 17 points on six goals and five assists, followed by Oliver Diaz with 16 points on six goals and four assists. Alvaro Unanua has started all 19 games in goal, compiling a 0.66 goals against average and seven shutouts.