NAMPA, Idaho — WOW!
That summed up the day on the pitch for the Crusaders as Northwest Nazarene's women's soccer team shocked 11^th-ranked Seattle Pacific.

Sarah Jenkins blasted a perfect shot from 30 yards out just over Falcons goalkeeper Molly Stinson and under the crossbar for the lone goal of the day, lifting the Crusaders to arguably the team's greatest win in program history, 1-0 over SPU at Finkbeiner Park on the NNU campus on Thursday.

"We had a very specific game plan today and our girls executed it," said an excited Mary Trigg, the Crusaders head women's soccer coach. "I'm so proud of the individual work they put in to contribute to the team goal.

"They set a new level for NNU today and I couldn't be prouder."

Not only was the win a big upset over a perennial powerhouse, but it snapped a 27-game skid against SPU — NNU last beat the Falcons 3-2 on Sept. 5, 2001 — and was the first win over a Top 25 ranked foe in the Crusaders' NCAA era.

And it came with a determined and disciplined effort by the Crusaders (4-3-0 overall, 1-1-0 GNAC), who were outshot 18-5, but never let SPU create a dangerous scoring chance out of those shots.
 

That allowed Daniele Ortiz to make 11 saves for her fourth shutout of the year.

Offensively, NNU played patiently, sending long balls up-field for forwards Kelsey Martin, Lexi Fesenbek and Nicole Nsa to try and track down behind the Falcons defense.

While that didn't pay off in a goal, it created chances for NNU and kept the game balanced, despite the shot differential.

Then, with 12 minutes gone in the second half, Jenkins struck.

Passing the ball back and forth with teammate Ashley Cook-Cox who was at the top of the SPU goal box, Jenkins booted a shot towards the net that Stinson back-pedaled to try and corral.

Instead, it sail just out of her reach, under the crossbar and nestled into the netting for the lone score of the day with 32:56 remaining to play.

From there, NNU — which is back in action hosting Western Oregon on Saturday at 1p.m. — buckled down defensively to hold on to one of the biggest wins in Crusader women's soccer history.