SAN RAFAEL, Calif.— Dominican men's soccer was unable to send a shot to the back of the net Saturday afternoon against Northwest Nazarene University, in a 0-2 loss at Kennelly Field.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Ruben Raygoza fought to keep the Penguins (1-4-1) in the hunt as he recorded five saves. The Nighthawks (3-2) applied pressure on Dominican's backfield throughout the course of the game, outshooting the Penguins 19-8 (10 in the first half and 9 in the second), while holding DU to just two shots on goal through 90 minutes.
Northwest Nazarene's goalkeeper Alex Nadermann recorded his second shutout of the season as the Nighthawks were supported offensively by Jake Levine, sending in both goals for NNU in the 38
thand 60
thminutes of the match.
NNU began their offensive attack in the ninth minute as Rodriguez-Diaz fled down the sideline and cut toward the box to force Raygoza to leave his post. Rodriguez-Diaz's mistouch led to Raygoza diving for a loose ball in the box to knock it away. The Nighthawks recovered to get a shot off, but
Cameron Baca was there to block the attempt.
Later in the 23
rdminute the Nighthawks forced Dominican to defend once more as Brandon Parsio connected on a corner kick from in front of the net, but his header bounced over the crossbar. Three minutes later the Nighthawks returned to Dominican's box for another offensive attack. Garrison Lee and Skyler Munroe let off high velocity shots, but were both blocked by Penguin defensemen in the box.
Monroe would create another chance for NNU in the 38
thminute has he sent a cross to Cameron Natvig in the box, who quickly dished it to Levine for a tap in as he raced across Dominican's net for the 1-0 lead over the Penguins.
Both programs went back and forth to open up the second half, until Nadermann sent a long ball to Levine, who quickly passed to McGinty who chipped it to Munroe, and Munroe back to Levine, spinning around his defender to win advantage in the box and chipped the ball to the back of the net past Raygoza for the 2-0 lead.
The Penguins created a few chances to get on the board down the stretch, including a 1 v. 1 play for
Luke Raley in the 86
thminute, but Raley sent a shot high over the crossbar for the Penguins' last chance.
Dominican's next contest will be against Point Loma Nazarene University in their PacWest opener Oct. 5 at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Live video and stats will be available online.
