SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - The Northwest Nazarene women's soccer team opened its regular season slate with a 1-0 loss to Dominican (Calif.) this afternoon in San Rafael, California.
The Nighthawks started strong in the first half, putting up eight shots but were unable to find the back of the net. Defensively, NNU only allowed four total shots, one in the second half that scored the only goal of the match.
Just five minutes into the second half, NNU surrendered a free kick in the middle third of the field. A lofted ball pulled keeper
Alex Barrass off her line to the edge of the six-yard box. Barrass punched the ball out, but contact from the striker prevented a full clearance. Dominican's Ayla Moore took a one-time volley at the penalty spot to net her first goal of the season and put the Penguins up in the second half.
NNU struggled to find momentum after the goal and fired only two second-half shots. With 26 minutes left to play, the Nighthawks found themselves with a great scoring opportunity. Jadlynn Ramos took gave a perfect lofted through pass to a sprinting Briana Abo into space that left her one-on-one with Dominican's keeper, Michelle Salas Viniegra. Sala Viniegra came out of her box making contact that sent Abo to the turf but a no call kept the game going.
NNU now falls to 0-1 overall and was led by Lucy Bergrod and
Sonja Daves with two shots.
Attie Jo Westbrook,
Nicole Lewis, and
Mylee Carver Moulton each had one shot.
Alex Barrass suffers her first loss of the year as she made two saves.
The Nighthawks outshot the Penguins 10-4 with six shots on goal to DUC's three.
Northwest Nazarene will continue their road trip as they look to bounce back against Menlo College (Calif.) on August 29. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 AM PT.
