Monday, November 7, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – After securing its first GNAC championship in program history, Northwest Nazarene will represent the conference in the 2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championships.

The Nighthawks enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed in Super Region 4 after finishing the regular season with a 13-3-2 record (9-2-1 GNAC) and will face No. 9 seed West Texas A&M (6-4-8 overall) in the first round. The two teams will kick off against each other at 6 p.m. at University Stadium on the campus of Cal State LA. The winner of the match will move on to face defending 2021 NCAA Division II champion Cal State LA in the second round on Saturday.

Northwest Nazarene is led by senior forward Jake Levine who ranks second in the GNAC with eight goals to go along with three assists. He is the most prolific goal scorer in NNU’s Division II history and is tied for 11th in conference history with 30 goals in his career so far.

Levine is joined up front for the Nighthawks by sophomore midfielder Lukas Juodkunaitis, sophomore forward Jimmy Koufidakis and sophomore forward Sullivan Smith who all netted five goals in the regular season. Juodkunatis added three assists while Koufidakis and Smith each added one as well. Nighthawks junior goalkeeper Sawyer Price ranks 19th in Division II with seven shutouts this season.

Northwest Nazarene’s opponent West Texas A&M enters the NCAA Division II Championships on the heels of a third-place finish in the Lone Star Conference with a 4-1-4 record. The Nighthawks have met the Buffs once this season when they took a 1-0 victory over West Texas A&M at home in Nampa on Sept. 10.