BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men's soccer team avoided defeat for the third consecutive match, picking up a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Northwest Nazarene in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets (5-4-5, 4-2-2 GNAC) and Nighthawks (4-7-2, 3-3-3 GNAC) battled back-and-forth in a match full of momentum swings, with both teams taking the lead during the match. The Nighthawks would strike first, scoring the only goal of the first half, but the Yellowjackets would respond with a pair of goals just two minutes apart from So Nagano turning the tide in favor of MSUB. The Nighthawks would respond with an equalizer though, with both teams settling for one point from the match.
 
The 'Jackets would find their openings early in the match, attempting four shots in the first 15 minutes before allowing NNU to see a chance of their own. MSUB would see a pair of attempts nearly miss goal, before the Nighthawks would begin to find their own opportunities. The visitors would be the ones to capitalize first, with Jim Wagenaar opening the scoring and handing Northwest Nazarene an early advantage. The Yellowjackets would continue to threaten to even up the score as the first half wore on, but would be unable to even the game up before the halftime break, trailing by one at the break.
 
MSUB wouldn't remain behind for much longer though, with Nagano putting the 'Jackets ahead with a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the second half. He would score his first from the penalty spot, drawing his own foul in the box before stepping up to slot it home in the bottom corner in the 48^th minute. Then in the 50^th minute, Nagano would net the first multi-goal game of his MSUB career, taking advantage of a stray Nighthawk defender to remain onside, and make the score 2-1 in favor of the Yellowjackets. That lead would hold for nearly ten minutes, before the Nighthawks would claw back even behind a goal from Raoul Barragen. Both teams would see opportunities to take back the lead late, with Nagano nearly pulling off a hat-trick with a shot in the 85^th minute that forced an impressive reflex save from NNU, but neither team would be able to break the deadlock, with the final whistle sealing a 2-2 draw.
 
Nagano, the reigning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, scored his two goals on six shots, putting three attempts on goal. Florian Senf would put two of his three shots on goal, while Taylor Moore tallied MSUB's other shot on target. Rene Tello, Ryan Hanley, and Matteo Bosch each attempted two shots, while Kolja Thomas, Guillermo Gonzalez, Bjarne Fedkenhauer, and George Jones each shot once. Fred Reiter made two saves in goal for the Yellowjackets.
 
THE BUZZ: Nagano was selected as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… the junior forward has now scored nine times on the year, tied for the conference lead… Nagano also moves one goal away from entering the top ten for goals in a season by a Yellowjacket.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets conclude their slate of home games for the 2024 season next week with a pair of matches, opening the week's action on Thursday, November 7 against Seattle Pacific. Kickoff is set for 6 PM at Yellowjacket Field, with live video available here, and live statistics available here. Tickets are available for purchase online here.