BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's soccer team avenged its earlier loss to Northwest Nazarene University by defeating the 22nd-ranked Nighthawks 4-1 at Yellowjacket Soccer Field on Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
MSUB (4-7-2, 2-4-2 GNAC) came into the game looking for its first win against the Nighthawks (10-3-2, 6-2-1) since 2019, and to flip their result from the first time these two teams met, a 2-0 loss on Northwest Nazarene's home field. Both teams had good looks at goal in the first half but were unable to put any away as the score stood at 0-0 heading into halftime.
 
"I am really proud of how the guys responded in training all week, and put it on the pitch today," said MSUB head coach Aaron Champenoy. "I have been telling them all year that I believe they can play with anyone in the country, but it doesn't matter if I believe it unless they do. Today's performance takes us one step closer, and it was just a great day for the squad."
 
It didn't take long for the 'Jackets, who outshot the Nighthawks 14-7, to score after halftime, and once they did, the offense found its rhythm scoring four goals in eight minutes to give the 'Jackets an emphatic lead. "The first half set the tone with a strong defensive performance, and we really limited them to no good looks on goal," said Champenoy. "We stepped up our pressure to allow us to win the ball higher up the field and create better goal-scoring opportunities. Even though we weren't able to finish one in the first half, we felt like we were on the right track."
 
Just over halfway through the 53rd minute, Edgar Ramirez dribbled through four Nighthawk players, centering the ball to Jeremie Briquet, who slotted it past keeper Sawyer Price for the opening goal. Five minutes later, a corner from the left side would sail in from Bjarne Fedkenhauer, and directly onto the head of Kolja Thomas, who sent the ball home to double the Yellowjackets' lead.
 
"It was great to see the first goal come from the training grounds of getting the ball out wide, driving to the sideline, and pulling it back for an easy, quality finish with runs being made in the box," said Champenoy. "It was a great individual effort by Edgar and a quality, composed finish from Jeremie. Once we were able to get that first one, you could see the confidence rise within the squad and we just kept pushing for more."
 
Less than a minute after that, Briquet would score his second goal of the game. Over 30 yards from goal and hugging the right sideline, Briquet noticed an opening and took his opportunity. His shot sailed perfectly over the goalkeeper Price, who could do nothing but watch as the ball landed perfectly in the bottom left corner of the goal, making the score 3-0.
 
The Yellowjackets' final goal was a reversal of their first, with Briquet this time centering to Ramirez, who rocketed his first-time effort into the center of the goal. "The back line continued to play solid and limit chances, with only one slipup in the closing minutes," said Champenoy.
 
The Nighthawks would score in the last minutes of the game, with a rebound effort from Cameron Natvig after the initial save by Jeremi Campagnolo was pushed in front of his feet. It had no real impact on the game's outcome, as the 'Jackets were untroubled for the rest of the game. With the win against the conference leading Nighthawks, MSUB now sits fifth in the GNAC standings.
 
"After a pretty poor performance last Saturday against SPU, we focused on getting back to the basics and we had time to adjust some tactics," said Champenoy. "We are a very tough team to play when we don't try to over complicate things and stay true to being a blue-collar side. Today was definitely our most complete performance from start to finish against a very good side."
 
THE BUZZ: Briquet was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…his two goals on the day were a season high for him, and he leads the team with five assists this season…Ramirez's goal and assist were each his first of the season…MSUB is now 15-18-2 against Northwest Nazarene all time, and 5-7-2 at home.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets take the field next for their home finale and senior day against Western Oregon University on Saturday, October 29 at 2:30 p.m.