BILLINGS, Mont. – Three first-half goals by visiting Northwest Nazarene University buried the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team on Saturday, as the Yellowjackets lost a Great Northwest Athletic Conference affair 4-2 at Yellowjacket Field.
 
The Yellowjackets fought back despite trailing 3-0, as senior Guillaume Kremer converted a pair of penalty kick attempts to get his team back into the match. But after his finish from 12 yards in the 82nd minute, NNU leading scorer Rafael Junqueira netted his sixth goal of the year in the 86th to end the comeback bid.
 
MSUB falls to 4-6-1 overall and 1-3 in GNAC play with the defeat. The red-hot Nighthawks won their third game in-a-row, and are still perfect at 3-0 in league play while moving to 3-5-1 overall.
 
"Our performance today was night and day compared to the game against SPU on Thursday," said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. "We conceded way too many goals way too easily, and credit goes to NNU for having a good game plan. I expect much more quality from our players, and at times we made it easy for NNU. We are going to allow our bodies to rest up and will get ready for the game against WWU on Thursday."
 
NNU created a handful of dangerous chances in the opening 20 minutes of play, the closest of which was a right-footed shot by Jake Levine that curled just high over the crossbar from eight yards in front of the goal.
 
Less than a minute later, Dominic Abdel-Ahad made the score 1-0 when he punched home a cross by Skyler Munroe from the left side of the field into the box. The Hawks quickly doubled their advantage with a goal four minutes later, as this time Levine got in on the action. After Logan Wood carried the ball into the right corner, Abdel-Ahad let his cross go through where Levine gathered the ball, turned, and finished a shot from seven yards out.
 
The deficit for MSUB grew in the 36th minute, as NNU continued its pressure within the attacking third. This time, Alex Mitrovic waited in the wings to intercept a clearance out of the goal box by the back line and smashed a powerful shot inside the near post with his right foot.
 
MSUB's chance for a comeback started in the final 90 seconds of the first half, when they were awarded a penalty kick after freshman Austin Shafer was tripped inside the goal box on a free-kick cross by Kremer. The senior got the score line to 3-1 with a strong finish, in an otherwise one-sided half of play with NNU holding a 9-2 advantage in shots.
 
Junior Samuele Folla helped the MSUB defensive unit off to a better start in the second half, as did substitute Callan Martin in 55 strong minutes off the bench. Committing high pressure paid off for MSUB with less than 10 minutes remaining, as senior Dana Kowachek drew a foul inside the box to set up the second penalty kick for his side. Kremer's aim was true once again, as he netted his fourth goal of the year and got the 'Jackets back within one.
 
Having scored four goals over his last two matches, Junqueira found the net once again as he put the game out of reach with four minutes left on the clock. Wood again orchestrated a goal, as he fed a cross in from the left corner and watched as Levine flicked it to Junqueira for the finish from inside the box.
 
Yellowjacket goalkeeper Ludvig Rhodin made three saves in the match, while NNU's Jacob Hillyer came through with a pair of stops. Abdel-Ahad led all players with four shots, and placed three of them on target. NNU out-shot MSUB 15-10 overall in the game.

Luca Battistotti played another 90-minute match on the back line, as did Folla and Kremer.

 
THE BUZZ: Martin was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 11-15-2 all-time against NNU and is 3-6-2 in home matches…Saturday was Kremer's second-career multi-goal game, both of which have occurred against NNU…he last achieved the feat on September 21, 2017 against the Nighthawks in a 3-2 home win…Kremer moved into the top-10 in MSUB history in career goals, as he now has 14 over his three seasons…Kremer is now tied for No. 7 in MSUB history with 44 career points, along with Garion Holian (2008-11).
 
NEXT UP: The 'Jackets are home again next week, with two more GNAC games on the schedule. MSUB hosts Western Washington University on Thursday at 1 p.m., and Concordia University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Both days will be doubleheaders with the MSUB women's soccer team, and live video and live statistics will be available online through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here.


 

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
9-25-97	Nampa, ID	A	L	2-1
8-28-99	Golden, CO	N	W	2-0
9-15-00	Ellensburg, WA	N	L	2-1
10-20-00	Colorado Springs, CO	N	W	5-2
9-15-01	Nampa, ID	A	W	3-0
9-20-02	Nampa, ID	A	W	5-1
10-12-02	Nampa, ID	A	W	3-0
9-20-08	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
10-17-08	Nampa, ID	A	L	3-2
10-3-09	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	2-2
10-20-09	Nampa, ID	A	W	3-0
10-9-10	Nampa, ID	A	L	2-1
11-6-10	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
10-1-11	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1
10-29-11	Nampa, ID	A	W (OT)	4-3
10-6-12	Nampa, ID	A	L	1-0
11-3-12	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0
10-12-13	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	0-0
11-9-13	Nampa, ID	A	L	5-1
9-20-14	Nampa, ID	A	L	2-0
11-8-14	Billings, MT	H	L	3-0
10-3-15	Nampa, ID	A	L	1-0 (NNU #19)
10-15-15	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
9-22-16	Nampa, ID	A	W	3-0
10-15-16	Billings, MT	H	L (OT)	4-3
9-21-17	Billings, MT	H	W	3-2
10-14-17	Nampa, ID	A	L	3-1
9-29-18	Billings, MT	H	L	4-2