NAMPA, Idaho — The Saint Martin's Men's Soccer team lost its road GNAC match at Northwest Nazarene by a score of 4-3 on Thursday, October 30.
Despite a back-and-forth flurry of goals by both teams throughout the match, the Saints came just shy of securing a late equalizing goal in the narrow loss. The match marked SMU's highest-scoring performance of the season.
How It Happened
- The Nighthawks wasted no time taking a quick 1-0 lead, as Derek Johnson scored in the second minute on the first shot attempt of the game.
- In the 12th minute, NNU doubled its lead to 2-0 with a goal by Derek Remen.
- The Saints bounced back quickly and trimmed the deficit in half, as Jonathan Wright scored on a header off a tactically-placed header by Paul Lopez, who earned an assist on the play. The goal for Wright marked three consecutive games with a goal, and his fourth goal of the season.
- The Saints saw a shot on goal by Daniel Rempel-White less than a minute later, but a save by NNU goalkeeper Gerardo Fonte prevented the equalizer.
- Later in the 29th minute, Caleb Putney scored for the Nighthawks to stretch the deficit to 3-1. Soren Hanson tallied a shot on goal in the 32nd minute, but the Saints went into halftime trailing by two goals, with NNU holding a narrow 4-3 advantage in shots on goal.
- In the 62nd minute, Daniel Rempel-White was taken down in the penalty box, giving the Saints a chance to cut the deficit with a penalty kick. Soren Hanson converted with a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, bringing the Saints within a 3-2 scoreline.
- In the 74th minute, the Nighthawks stretched their lead to 4-2 with a well-placed free kick goal by Derek Remen, his second of the game.
- Less than 50 seconds later, Saint Martin's responded with another goal to cut the deficit back to 4-3. Off a deflected cross, Paul Lopez lined up a shot from the center of the box and drilled in his second goal of the season.
- Lopez later had a free kick shot attempt saved in the 82nd minute and a deep shot with the goalkeeper out of position in the 84th minute, as SMU pursued an equalizer.
- The final 10 minutes saw a flurry of yellow cards given to the Nighthawks, but the Saints were unable to capitalize off the free kicks and went on to lose 4-3 at the final whistle.
Top Performers
- Soren Hanson recorded four shots, three of which were on target.
- Paul Lopez both scored and assisted goals today, the first such game of the senior's career.
- Connor Leistiko recorded two saves for the Saints.
Team Stats
SMU's three goals was the most in a game so far this season, and the most goals scored in a game since October 21, 2023.
Up Next
Next up, the Saints will travel to face Seattle Pacific at 6 p.m. on Nov. 1.