Monday, September 10, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. – Head coach Mary Trigg has guided the Northwest Nazarene women’s soccer team to steady improvement over the past five seasons and that trend has continued through non-conference play in 2018. 

Off to the best start in program history, the Nighthawks sit at the top of the GNAC table with a 4-0-1 record through two weeks of action. That last week featured two victories and a road draw against undefeated Minot State, earning selection as the GNAC Team of the Week.

Northwest Nazarene got off on the right foot last Monday, notching a 5-0 win against Minnesota Crookston for the club’s second shutout and best offensive performance of the season. The team then hit the road, knocking off Northern State for a 2-1 victory before battling the Beavers to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The Nighthawks were led by midfielder Madi Taylor, who tallied three goals and six points on the week. Two of those strikes came in the win against the Wolves, taking advantage of a corner kick to put her team up 1-0 before scoring the game-winner in the 67th-minute.

"We had a lot of perseverance on the road,” said Trigg, “But we kept having different players step up when needed. It was a great end to our non-conference schedule.”

Goalkeeper Chloe Sholtz was one of those players. The senior was solid all week, logging 290 minutes in goal while allowing just two goals in three matches. Sholtz has allowed just five goals so far this year, making 13 saves on 31 shots faced.

"I'm so proud of our girls,” Trigg said on this week’s play. “Five games in 10 days is tough, but we showed a lot of grit.”

With Minot State still undefeated and Northern State’s only loss coming to NNU, the road results provided a perfect test to wind down a busy stretch of matches before conference play begins this week.

The team currently leads the GNAC in goals (13) and assists (11). Its 37 points through five matches is 11 clear of the next closest teams in the league (Montana State Billings and Simon Fraser, 26).

Northwest Nazarene will look to ride this momentum into GNAC play, which begins at home on Saturday afternoon. The Nighthawks are set to take on Saint Martin’s in their only match of the week, kicking off at 1:30 p.m. (Mountain) in Nampa.