NAMPA, Idaho – Despite a furious comeback effort with two goals in the final eight minutes Thursday night at the NNU Soccer Field, the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team saw its quest for a playoff berth come to a close with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of host Northwest Nazarene University.
 
The Yellowjackets (7-8-3, 4-7-2 GNAC) were eliminated from postseason contention before Saturday's season finale at Central Washington. MSUB is in sixth place in the conference standings with 14 points, trailing fifth-place Western Oregon by one point and fourth-place Simon Fraser by two points. Because SFU holds the tiebreaker over MSUB, and SFU plays Western Oregon Saturday, it is impossible for the Yellowjackets to reach the fourth and final playoff berth even with a win on Saturday.
 
"I am so proud of our three seniors for what they have given us today and this entire season," said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "I wish we all could have done more to help them get the result they deserved."
 
The Yellowjackets battled as hard Thursday night as they have all season, fighting to the final whistle and rallying to give themselves a chance despite trailing 3-0. Taylor Gertsch scored her first collegiate goal on a magnificent free kick and reigning GNAC Player of the Week Haylee Gunter added her fourth goal in the last three matches, but MSUB came up one tally short of forcing overtime.
 
"We made it a game at the end and tried to fight until the last moment," Cavallo said. "We asked these players to leave it on the field today. Nobody is happy about the goals we conceded, but everyone should be proud of how we never gave up."
 
Madison Grande scored on a 12th-minute MSUB miscue, Allison Wolf added a brace five minutes before halftime, and Sierra Sanchez netted what proved to be the game-winner in the 54th minute for the hosts. NNU improved to 10-3-3 overall and is 8-3-2 in conference play, while sitting in third place with 26 points and two points behind second-place Western Washington.
 
A slow back-pass towards Clare Keenan never reached the MSUB goalkeeper in the 12th minute, as Grande raced forward to intercept the ball and touch her third goal in as many games into the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
 
In the 41st minute, Ashley Parton got free in the right corner and beat her mark into the goal box. She sent a low cross just above the six-yard box, where Wolf was waiting to punch a solid strike into the back of the net.
 
The Nighthawks worked their way behind MSUB's back line again less than 10 minutes into the second half, this time with McKenzie Buell running onto a through ball and carrying it deep into the goal box on the right side. Her low cross found the foot of Sanchez, who tucked a well-placed, left-footed shot into the lower-left corner of the net on her first touch.
 
Gunter was fouled hard by NNU goalkeeper Alexis Montoya just outside of the goal box in the 83rd minute of play. Gertsch stepped up to the mark, and curled a perfectly-touched shot over a four-player defensive wall and inside the right goal post for her first finish of the season.
 
The goal sparked life into the Yellowjackets, who struck again less than 90 seconds later. Ally Findlay drilled a long ball from the MSUB defensive midfield all the way through the NNU back line, where Gunter was lurking. The senior took one touch, before curling home a low, right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner of the net to bring MSUB within one.
 
After the defensive lapse, NNU kept it together over the final six minutes and prevented the 'Jackets from a clean look at finding a last-second equalizer.
 
Keenan made six saves throughout the game while facing 24 shots including 10 on target. Findlay and Hailee Gertsch played the full 90 minutes at center back, while Gunter and Taylor Gertsch each played the full game as well. Leila Clark led the Yellowjackets with three shots and two on target, as MSUB managed 12 total shot attempts and placed half of them on frame.
 
Montoya, the GNAC leader in saves, had four stops to earn the victory in goal. Grande led all players with six shots including two on frame, while Makayla Roggow had five shot attempts with two landing on target.
 
THE BUZZ: Gunter was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…Gunter's goal was the 10th of her career…NNU took both ends of the season series, after winning 1-0 in Billings on Oct. 14…the assist was the first of Findlay's Yellowjacket career…MSUB is now 19-12-2 all-time against NNU and is 7-9-2 in road matches against the Nighthawks.
 
NEXT UP: The 2021 season concludes on Saturday, with a noon kickoff against Central Washington University. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.