SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The men's soccer team played MSU Denver to a 1-1 draw in Salt Lake City, Utah this afternoon.
Coming off back-to-back draws with College of Idaho (exhibtion) last week and Westminster earlier this week, NNU was itching to find the win column. They started strong as
Youssef El Madkouri put up a shot jsut two minutes into the game but neither team would find and significant chances.
MSU Denver would create a chance with a shot in the 13th minute.
Gerardo Torres Fonte made a diving save to his left but was slow to get up and would be unable to continue due to injury.
Elijah Brockl entered the game in just 13 minutes into the contest and would be called upon immediatly. Ryson Johnston fired a shot that forced Brockl to make his first save of the season.
Three minutes later, the Roadrunners took the lead off a shot from Markus Beck. NNU was now in an early hole but continued to claw.
Standout sophomore
Rylan McPherson took a shot but missed high. A cross from the right side of the field found El Madkouri attempting to volley it out of the air. The loose ball would find Carson Dims, who found
Caleb Putney around the penalty spot. Putney got a piece of the ball to redirect it to the back post and scored the game tying goal.
Teams would trade chances for the rest of the half but would enter the break knotted at one.
With both teams trying to gain the upper hand, it got physical as McPherson was shown a yellow card just a couple of minutes into the half, forcing first-year head coach
Julio Castillo to make a change at the 57:47 mark. But not before NNU found two solid chances off the foot of Putney and El Madkouri, both being saved.
MSU Denver had a great chance by Dominic Athearn and a one-on-one with Brockl, but Brockl made a fantastic save to his left to keep it tied at one.
Neither team was able to break the stalemate, and the game would end in a 1-1 draw.
NNU is now 0-0-2 and will look to find their first win against Humboldt and Menlo next week in California.
By the numbers:
- NNU fired 11 shots, four on goal
- MSU Denver fired nine shots, six on goal
- Caleb Putney scored the eighth goal of his career, the first of the 2026 season
