BILLINGS, Mont. – Stunning the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon at Yellowjacket Field, visiting Northwest Nazarene University scored twice in the final six minutes to steal a 2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory.
 
The Yellowjackets carried a 1-0 lead into the closing minutes of play, but watched as the Nighthawks struck twice in the span of five minutes. "This was a very disappointing performance," said MSUB head coach Thomas Chameraud. "I think we had control of the match and we had the best chances, yet we found a way to give them an opportunity to come back and lost it."
 
GNAC leading scorer Halil Yilmaz netted a top-shelf, free-kick goal in the 62nd minute, giving the Yellowjackets a well-deserved 1-0 lead after the hosts out-played the Nighthawks over the first hour of action. Jimmy Koufidakis equalized in the 85th minute after a long set piece into the box was mishandled, and Nils Knosala scored the winner in the 89th minute on a long shot that carried through a crowded box and trickled into the lower-right corner of the goal.
 
Yilmaz led all players with four shots and two on frame, on a day where the 'Jackets out-shot the Nighthawks 14-6 and placed six attempts on target. NNU made the most of its four shots on goal however, scoring twice to improve to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in league play. MSUB slipped to 3-5-1 overall and is now 1-2 in conference matches. "We have to find a way to close these type of games, because in the GNAC when you don't put away big chances you get punished," said Chameraud. "We learned it the hard way today, and now we will have to regroup and get big results away."


The Yellowjackets frequently tested NNU goalkeeper Sawyer Price in the opening half, with four corner kicks and six shots in the opening 45 minutes. Although the Yellowjackets settled for a 0-0 score line at halftime, they managed to pull ahead after winning a free kick 16 minutes into the second half.
 
The left-footed Yilmaz bent a powerful, 35-yard strike into the upper-right corner of the net past an out-stretched Price, who got a fingertip on the ball before it hit the back of the net. It was Yilmaz's ninth goal of the season, after he scored a pair in MSUB's 3-0 blanking of Saint Martin's University on Thursday.
 
After a ball was played into the goal box on a free kick in the 85th minute, it fell to the foot of Koufidakis among a crowd of players and he knocked it into an unguarded net to tie the score at 1-1.
 
Perhaps MSUB's best chance for a second finish came on a corner kick in the 69th minute, when Bryan Maxwell got his head on a cross but pushed it just wide of the far post. Price saved a shot by Yilmaz in the 85th minute directly after Koufidakis's equalizer, and an ensuing attempt from Tybalt Thornberry glanced off the right goal post as the 'Jackets nearly pulled ahead.
 
NNU put the game away moments later, when Knosala created space with the ball outside the box on the left side of the field. Sebastian Cotrau stunted towards the ball as it was played into the box, which was enough to misdirect MSUB goalkeeper Georgios Theodoulidis as the ball carried into the back of the net.
 
Senior captain Luca Battistotti played a full 90 minutes on the back line, and had numerous crucial tackles throughout the match to keep momentum on the side of the Yellowjackets. Bryan Maxwell and Pascal Pisarek each also contributed solid 90-minute performances on the back line for MSUB.
 
THE BUZZ: Yilmaz was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 14-16-2 all-time against NNU and is 4-7-2 in home matches against the Nighthawks.
 
NEXT UP: The Yellowjackets hit the road next week, playing at Simon Fraser University on Oct. 14 and at Western Washington University on Oct. 16. Live coverage for next week's matches will be available online here.