NAMPA, Idaho - Renatto Brito scored the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 69th minute, as host Northwest Nazarene defeated rival College of Idaho, 3-2, tonight at the NNU Soccer Field.
After the Coyotes (0-2) scored a pair of second half goals just 87 seconds apart to erase a 2-0 deficit, NNU took advantage of an attacker being pulled down inside the six-yard box to set up the penalty kick. Brito slammed the try into the right corner of the net, as the Crusaders (3-1) improved to 3-0 against their Canyon County rivals since reinstating the sport in 2008.
Salvador Sanchez tallied the first two goals for NNU, rocketing in a 25-yard blast into the left corner of the net in the 16th minute, making it 2-0 early in the second half, one-timing an Alex Mangeac corner kick just outside the right edge of the penalty box.
The Coyotes, who tied a school record with their seventh-straight loss, did not quit, as in the 59th minute, Brad Byers bent a free kick just outside the 18-yard mark around the NNU wall and into the net to cut the deficit in half. Stephen Franden tied the score less than two minutes later, playing the ball out of a scrum in the box and rifling a shot into the twine.
The C of I held the majority of the possession throughout, while grabbing a 14-13 edge in shots, including an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.
The Yotes return to action on Sunday, hosting Whitman College at Noon.