Western Washington University’s men’s soccer team conceded a 2-1 loss to the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on a cold Thursday night, Oct. 10, at Robert S. Harrington Field, in Bellingham, Wash.
The Vikings came out strong, launching several early shots. Third-year striker Albin Jonsson attempted to open the scoring early for the Vikings, but the Nighthawks goalkeeper, Gerardo Fonte, made an early save.
Midway through the first half, Nighthawks defender Caleb Putney took a shot that was saved by second-year goalkeeper Charlie Dyer. However, the ball deflected straight to midfield/forward Jonny Ramirez who scored to put the Nighthawks up 1-0.
The Vikings were able to put up three shots after 8 minutes on goal within three minutes of each other as they tried to find an equalizer. One of those shots came from fourth-year Adan Fernandez who was just inches away from finding the back of the net, skimming the fingers of the NNU goalkeeper.
“We definitely want to shoot more, create those chances going forward, kind of see if we get more goals,” Fernandez said.
With that at a close, the first half came to an end with NNU leading by a small 1-0 lead.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Dyer attempted to make a drastic save but ended up fouling forward Jonathan Cardona of the Nighthawks. This led to a penalty kick that the Nighthawks scored to lead 2-0 with 30 minutes left in the match.
“The margins are slim at this level and we create chances and we [have] got to finish those chances,” WWU Head Coach Greg Brisbon said. “...that's probably the next step in our development.”
The Vikings managed to close the gap to one goal in the last five minutes of the game. Fernandez drove the ball to the right side of the net and scored his first goal of the season with an assist from Jonsson, from outside of the box.
“Feels good to get my first [goal] of the season,” Fernandez said. “I think I can keep going forward and get more and more and help the team continue to grow and see what we can turn this league into, see if we can get ourselves back on top.”
Following Fernandez’s goal, Western continued its aggressive approach, attempting three corner kicks in the final minutes of the game, but unfortunately, they couldn’t level the game.
In the end, the Nighthawks were able to win the game 2-1. Despite the loss, the Vikings were able to secure a 7-2 victory against the Saint Martin's University Saints on Saturday, Oct. 12, to improve to 3-4-3 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play. The Vikings will play next on Oct. 19, against the MSU Billings, at Harrington Field.
Alex Couckuyt (they/them) is a Sports and Recreation reporter for The Front. They are a senior studying multidisciplinary studies with a minor in psychology and public relations. In their free time, they enjoy painting star wars miniatures and playing Magic the Gathering. You can reach them at alexcouckuyt.thefront@gmail.com.
