NAMPA, Idaho - The Northwest Nazarene men's soccer team dropped their first game of the season against the Colorado Mesa Mavericks.
Just two days after the Nighthawks upset the No. 12-ranked Fort Lewis Skyhawks, they struggled to find an offensive groove. NNU was only able to find seven shots and only two on goal while CMU took 14 with six on goal.
David Campos fired the first shot of the day for the Nighthawks but missed wide. NNU would find two more shots in the first half from
Ousman Garba and Angleo Lemb in the 34th and 37th minutes. The Nighthawks would go the rest of the half without a shot and would enter the break tied.
It only took five minutes for Colorado Mesa to break the tie. A series of passes found Edoardo Oliveri around the penalty spot, and he slotted it at the back post to take a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks had a great opportunity to go up 2-0, but a shot hit off the back post to keep it a one-goal game. A series of strong chances from the Mavericks were stopped by excellent goalkeeping from
Elijah Brockl that kept the Nighthawks in it.
A second yellow on
Angad Dharni sent off the sophomore and made the Nighthawks play with 10 players the rest of the way. Just a minute later, Edoardo Oliveri netted his second of the game to secure a 2-0 lead for CMU.
NNU drops their first game of the year and falls to 2-1-3 overall. They will hit the road next week to play West Texas A&M and St. Mary's (Texas) on Sept. 17 and 19, respectively.
By the numbers:
- NNU recorded seven shots, two on goal
- CMU recorded 14 shots, six on goal
- Elijah Brockl secured three saves
- Eljiah Grimaldo led the team with two shots on goal
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