Box Score

NAMPA, Idaho — After a solid pre-conference campaign, the one big key for the Crusaders on Saturday was starting league play strong.

Northwest Nazarene did that, emphatically, rolling over Great Northwest Athletic Conference newcomer Concordia, 3-0, in a game that renewed a rivalry that had been on a 16-year hiatus.

"It was important to get off on the right foot today in our first conference match and we certainly did that," said NNU head men's soccer coach Coe Michaelson. "Concordia is a program with a lot of history and a great coach in Dan Birkey."

A program that NNU (5-1-0 overall, 1-0-0 GNAC) last played back in September of 1999 when the two teams were league rivals in the NAIA's Cascade Conference.
 

In their second year of a transition to the NCAA Division II level, and first season in the GNAC, the Cavaliers (2-2-0, 0-1-0) find themselves once again rivals with NNU, which was relentless in its attack against the D-II newcomers on Saturday.

Abraham Placito netted the game-winner for the Crusaders off a Julio Castillo corner kick with 26 minutes, 20 seconds gone in the game after Castillo's kick went off the goal post and Placito opportunistically pounced on the rebound and booted it home.

NNU, which outshot the Cavaliers, 18-16, kept pushing the attack and broke the game open in the second half as Michael Mollay scored 8:30 into the final stanza off a long assist from Graham Reid, then Ebu Camara netted a goal with 22:16 remaining, off Castillo's second assist of the day, for the commanding 3-0 lead.

The Crusaders would see an Erik Anderson goal whipped away by an offside call, and saw several more near misses, as they settled for the three-goal victory.

"I know the guys are walking away feeling it should have been more, but in the end we got three goals, a shutout, and most importantly a win, so it was a great day for the team," Michaelson said.

Ryan Foo, the reigning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, made five saves to earn his second straight shutout, an effort that included a great diving stop on a Tyler Hoiem chance in the final 12 minutes.

With the shutout, Foo and the Crusaders — who next play at fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) — have not been scored upon in 267 minutes, 40 seconds of action.