GOLDEN, Colo. – Northwest Nazarene men's soccer executed an incredible comeback against Colorado Christian on Saturday, overcoming a three-goal second-half deficit to stun the Cougars 5-4.
With their first win of the 2025 campaign, NNU moves to 1-0-1 on the season.
After the scoreless draw against MSU Denver to open the year on Thursday, Saturday's contest had a completely different tune with nine goals between the two teams, including six in the second half.
The Nighthawks broke through for their first goal of the year in just the seventh minute.
Kwame Kwakye received a long ball down the right side and dished it towards the middle for
Rylan McPherson, who took a couple of touches before firing a low strike inside the far post.
The momentum swung fully in Colorado Christian's favor after that, though, as the Cougars scored twice in the first half to lead 2-1 at the break. They followed that up with two more goals in the first seven minutes of the second period to go up 4-1 in the 52
nd minute.
NNU's comeback started immediately after CCU's fourth goal, however, as McPherson tallied his second goal of the game and his young career off an assist from
Derek Johnson less than a minute later.
In the 74
th minute, NNU cut the deficit to one goal when
Abdullahi Sharif converted a penalty after a handball in the box by CCU. Sharif then leveled the score with 10 minutes left in the game, receiving a pass into the box from
Carson Din and calmly slotting it into the back of the net to make it 4-4.
Din was then the hero, scoring the game-winner off an assist from
Caleb Putney with less than two minutes remaining.
NNU tallied 15 total shots and put eight of them on goal, while CCU registered nine attempts with six going on target.
The Nighthawks now return to Nampa for their regular season home opener, hosting Westminster on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m.
