BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene tacked on another win to their 2022 season after defeating Harding 3-1 on Wes Harmon Field Thursday evening.
The Storm took control of the match early, scoring three unanswered goals in the first half. Harding snuck a score in midway through the second half, but could not counter SNU's two-goal lead. The Storm (5-4-3, 3-1-2) attacked on the offensive end the entire match, recording a total of 26 shots. The Bisons (1-9-1, 1-4-1) did not see many opportunities as they only tallied eight shots in the match.
SNU's first goal came in the 33rd minute as Esteban Ramirez passed to an open Unaiz Shajani for the punch-in. The Storm wasted no time after as Daniel Trojman sent the ball over to Nathaniel Mederos for a shot one to the back of the net just seconds later, pushing SNU to a 2-0 advantage over the Bisons.
Late in the first half, Alvaro Sanchez found Kazuki Okazaki in the gap for a goal, giving SNU their third of the match. Harding was unable to cut the deficit before the buzzer, and SNU headed into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Midway through the second half, Harding snuck a goal in by the Storm, cutting SNU's lead down to two. The fire for the Bisons quickly diminished and SNU continued to hoard the ball, keeping any chance of a Harding comeback out of reach.
SNU attempted to exceed their lead late in the second half, but couldn't get the ball to hit the back of the net. The 90th minute was reached and the Storm celebrated a two-game winning streak as they took down Harding 3-1 on their home turf.
Mederos was all over the Bisons as he finished with five shots and four shots on goal. Unaiz Shajani tallied five shots as well to go along with one shot on goal.
SNU will be tested this Saturday, October 8th as they head to Talequah, Oklahoma to take on Northeastern State, a team currently ranked No. 2 in the conference standings with a 4-1-1 conference record. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
