NAMPA, Idaho – After two weeks without a game, Northwest Nazarene men's soccer showed no signs of rust with a dominating 4-0 win over Saint Martin's in their GNAC opener on Saturday.
The Nighthawks got the scoring started early and often in the first half, tallying three goals in a span of just five minutes.
Jim Wagenaar notched the first in the 20
th minute, easily tapping home a great ball across the face of the goal from
Johnny Ramirez.
In the 23
rd,
Pablo Gonzalez sent a dangerous ball into the box from 35 yards out that fell to the feet of
Caleb Putney, who rifled it past the SMU keeper to make it 2-0.
Just two minutes later,
Adam Laarj ripped a shot from 30 yards out that clanged off the crossbar, but Wagenaar was there to calmly head the rebound into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.
That score held until halftime and nearly all of the second period, but the Nighthawks were not quite done, adding one more tally to get to the 4-0 final. In the 87
th minute, Wagenaar tapped a loose ball in the box to
Maddox Marcelli, who one-timed it into the top right corner with the outside of his left boot for a brilliant goal.
The goal was the first of Marcelli's collegiate career on the first shot attempt of his career, coming in just his second game after also appearing against Lubbock Christian two weeks ago.
Wagenaar's two goals and an assist for five points are the most in a game for a Nighthawk since he had a hat trick last year against Montana State Billings on Oct. 12, 2023.
NNU finished with 25 shots to just eight for SMU, also earning eight corners while allowing just one.
The Nighthawks look to continue the momentum next Thursday when they travel to Bellingham to face Western Washington at 7:00 p.m. Pacific.
