Northwestern women’s soccer (1-7-1) went up against neighboring rivals Dordt (2-4-1) at their home field on Wednesday, October 13, renewed the Raiders version of the rivalry with a high scoring affair that went the way of the Defenders 3-2.
With the late kick off time at 6 p.m., the Raiders faced the Defenders on a chilled fall night. Dordt struck first with an early goal in the opening two minutes of play. The Dordt attack continued to put hard pressure on the Raiders defense receiving multiple shot attempts. NW gave up another goal in the 11th minute to down the Raiders 2-0.
As the game went on, NW offense found their footing as they were able to possess the ball more consistently. The Raiders were able to get shots off, unfortunately, could not find the back of the net ending the first half 2-0 with the Defenders leading.
The Raiders came out in the second half with obvious intentions and outstanding effort to get their offense on track. In result, junior midfielder Julie Dunlap cut through the defender defense and found the back of the net in the 48th minute. Senior Emily Hurley, assisted Dunlap as they helped the Raiders get on the board trailing 2-1 to the Defenders.
NW continued to build on that momentum and possessed the ball as their defense did not allow any easy chances for the Dordt Defenders to make any dangerous plays. In the 75th minute, senior Josie Maasdam found Hurley for a greatly placed game-tying goal. The NW offense helped build the momentum of the goal as they kept fighting for a Raider win.
Unfortunately, minutes later, a push from the Defenders resulted in the game-winning goal from sophomore Jori Bronner. NW would not go down lightly as they put together a few more attacks, but could not, once again, tie the game giving Dordt the victory over NW 3-2.
The Raiders had a bye week and continued to play as they traveled to Aberdeen, S.D. for another GPAC game against the Presentation Saints. With cold and sloppy field conditions, the Raiders received their second GPAC win against Presentation on Wednesday, October 20. NW continues their conference play on Saturday, October 23 for their last home game against the Hastings Mustangs for their second to last game of the season. 
