KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University men's soccer suffered another close loss in the match to Oregon Tech on Saturday, Sept. 19th at the NU Athletic Field.
The Eagles looked to rebound after a last second loss to SOU the day prior. NU started the campaign slowly with 0 shots against the Owls 13. Despite NU's efforts, OIT established strong vantage with a goal in the 3rd minute.
In the end of the first half, OIT scored once more as tempers flared in several physical scraps, awarding both clubs a yellow towards the end of the half.
Northwest came out of the break looking to quickly equalize the 0-2 scoreline. The rally was eased by OIT's Worrell, receiving a 54th minute red card. NU took advantage of the man up position they found themselves in with a staggering 10 shots in the second half, opposed to the previous 0 in the first half.
Matthew Ludlow found the net in the 84th minute off an assist from Benjamin Toscano. The Eagles scrambled to erase the deficit in the remaining 5 minutes of the match. NU managed to get several shots off, including a last chance desperation corner attempt in the final seconds but were unsuccessful.
OIT was held to only 2 shots in the second half and Bailey Hopkins was able to deliver 5 saves total in the match. The final score was 1-2 as the Eagles fell to 0-2 in the opening weekend of conference play, 2-3-1 overall.
Captain Samuel Brendle of NU was asked how the team can recoup and bare results considering the schedule difficulty to come. "We need to take the positives from the game and remember how we started the [SOU game was strong] because of the way we played as a team… and I think we take that on the road knowing that we can compete with the best teams." Brendle also added that the key to Northwest converting wins will come down to "playing through the final third of the match."
The Eagles have an upcoming set of games on the road in Montana against Carroll College and Rocky Mountain College, September 24th and 26th .
Written by Benjamin Shoop, Media & Journalism Intern | NU Athletic Dept.
