NU's Doug Whitney (#4) had two assists in the Eagle victory.
Eagles Win, Tied for CCC Lead
KIRKLAND, Wash. - The Northwest University men overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score four straight goals to defeat Northwest Christian, 4-1, this afternoon, putting them into a tie for first place in the Cascade Conference with Concordia.
No. 12 and league-leading Concordia tied the College of Idaho in double overtime in Caldwell giving the Eagles and the Cavaliers 25 points and identical 8-1-1 records for the CCC lead. This sets up a big game in Portland this Saturday when the two teams meet for the second time this season with NU getting the earlier victory in Kirkland.
The game didn't go NU's way early as NCU scored just 7 minutes and 36 seconds into the game as Chris Longi headed in a perfect pass from Andrew Poe over the Eagles' Joe Galbraith from 5 yards out for the 1-0 lead.
Northwest finally got on the scoreboard in the 31st minute when senior Drew Jensen put one into the right corner of the net from the left side off a double assist from Joel Pelton and Doug Whitney.
James Kerr got the game winner for the Eagles at the 42:47 mark when he took a pass from Edgar Esquivel and put the ball into an open net from 15 yards out.
NU's Joel Pelton scored in the 61st minute from 11 yards out after receiving Doug Whitney's long pass up the middle. Senior Luke Fischer finished off the Eagles scoring at the 75:58 mark as he took a through ball from Taylor Young, splitting two defenders and scoring from 11 yards out on the left side.
Northwest U. (9-2-3, 8-1-1 CCC) dominated the shot chart with a 37-6 margin. Joel Pelton led NU with 9 shots, 4 on goal. Northwest Christian's (2-11-1, 0-9-1 CCC) Nick Kratzke had 9 saves in goal for the Beacons before subbing out in the 82nd minute. Joe Galbraith had 2 saves for NU and left the game at the 84:57 mark.
"We started out the game a bit unorganized and that is what led to their goal being scored," said Gary McIntosh, NU head coach. "Having them score first woke us up and I felt that we controlled the play the rest of the game. The guys did a great job of keeping possession and creating good scoring opportunities."
McIntosh continued, "Drew's (Jensen) goal really got us going and we seemed to play much better after that. He did a great job of giving us the spark we needed. James (Kerr) has played well all season and he seems to find ways to score goals when we need them. He deserved to get the game winner today. Overall, I also felt our bench did a great job giving us a lift throughout the game."