ATHERTON, Calif. - Northwest Nazarene men's soccer drew for the third straight time this afternoon in a non-conference match against Cal Poly Humboldt.
The Nighthawks started strong as Rylan McPherson took a shot just five minutes into the contest, forcing Alvaro Nieves to make a save to his right. NNU then found themselves with a corner kick just a minute later that found Angelo Lemb, but Lemb missed high. NNU kept up the pressure as Alex Barragan took a shot that required another save from Nieves.
With three shots, two on goal in the first ten minutes, the Nighthawks seemed like it was just a matter of time before they cracked the scoring column. In the 22nd minute, a Caleb Putney Shot found it's way to McPherson and took a shot but was once again saved by Nieves.
In the 28th minute, the Nighthawks fired off a series of shots from Youssef El Madkouri, Caleb Putney, and eventually Alex Barragan, who netted the first goal of the game and put NNU up 1-0.
With a 1-0 lead entering the second-half, the Lumberjacks were eager to find the equalizer. Less than 10 minutes into the second-half, Shota Lam tied it up at one. However, two minutes later, Humboldt's David Vega would commit a foul in the box, giving the Nighthawks a penalty kick. Caleb Putney stepped up and buried the penalty for his second goal in as many games.
The Nighthawks continued to control much of the game, forcing Nieves to make multiple saves, keeping the Lumberjacks in it. Dominik Chipp made Nieves' efforts worth it as he scored the equalizer in the 85th minute.
Neither team would be able to pull ahead in the final minutes and the game would end in a 2-2 draw.
NNU is looking for their first win of the season after drawing their first three matches of the year. They are 0-0-3 and will look to take the final match of their four-game road trip against Menlo on Saturday.
By the numbers:
- NNU took 20 shots, 10 on goal
- Humboldt took 11 shots, five on goal
- Elijah Brockl recorded three saves
- Alvaro Nieves recorded six saves
- Caleb Putney led the team with seven total shots and three shots on goal
- Putney scored his second goal of the season
- Alex Barragan scored his first goal of the year
