NU earns first victory of the season after two ties.
Eagles Shut Out No. 20 Argonauts
KIRKLAND, Wash. - NU's Joel Pelton's goal in the 32nd minute proved to be the game winner as the Eagles shut out No. 20 University of Great Falls, 1-0, this morning in a non-conference contest in Kirkland. It was the first win for Northwest after registering two ties.
Pelton (Jr., Sacramento, Calif.), a transfer from Bethany University, scored as he beat a UGF defender and kicked his unassisted goal in from 19 yards out on the left side.
From that point on, the remainder of the game proved to be a defensive battle as neither team nor goalkeeper would allow another score. A total of 41 shots were taken and the goalies combined for 14 saves on the day. UGF's Zach Johnson (Casper, Wyom.) had 8 saves, 5 in the second half as both teams picked up the pace. Joe Galbraith (Whitefish, Mont.) scored the shutout with 6 saves and has only allowed one goal in 270 minutes of play.
25 of the 41 shots were taken in the second half as each team had shots on goal only to be turned away by the goalkeepers. UGF's Ryan O'Neil (Artima, Trinidad) had 11 of the Argonauts shots but couldn't put one past the NU goalie. O'Neil came close to scoring in the 11th minute with his header that was saved by Galbraith. David Jimenez's header went wide right in the 29th minute for the Argos. UGF had two scoring opportunities in the 80th minutes as O'Neil had one header blocked and another saved by Galbraith in succession in front of the NU goal mouth.
NU's sophomore midfielder, Edgar Esquivel (Issaquah, Wash.), had a chance to put NU up 2-0 in the 41st minute with a PK but his left footed shot was knocked away by Zach Johnson on the left side. In the second half Nickey Ricks (Monrovia, Liberia) beat a UGF defender and passed to Luke Fischer (Kalispell, Mont.) whose shot sailed wide left.
Northwest U. (1-0-2) outshot Great Falls (1-2-0) 21-20 and each team had 5 corner kicks.
"I’m proud of the way the team played today," commented Gary McIntosh, Eagle head coach. "The team played with passion and energy. Anytime a coach sees his players playing hard for one another it is exciting. We had good possession of the ball and our movement off the ball was tremendous. Defensively as a unit it was our best game and we kept good shape throughout the game. Joe had another great game in goal for us! The goal that Joel scored for us was top notch stuff. It was a good win for the guys today!"
Northwest U. will continue pre-season play later in the week when they host Trinity Lutheran on Friday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m.