The Red Raiders (8-5-1, 5-3 GPAC) dominated the College of Saint Mary Flames (5-6-2, 3-3-1 GPAC) Saturday night with a big 4-1 win. The win puts the Raiders in a positive driver's seat for earning a postseason birth.

The Raiders started off hotter than the Flames and the result was devastating to the visitors. Nikky Farnsworth added to her season tally putting in the first two goals for NWC in the 7th and 8th minutes. 

The first goal came off of hard work in the attacking box and Farnsworth putting her backside into a CSM clearance and the ball redirected into the back of the net. The second came off a great buildup by the Raiders with Maddi Avery taking a hard shot that the Flame keeper could not hold and Farnsworth was there to tap home the rebound. 

Maddi Avery would get a goal to add to her assist 23 seconds later after beating a CSM center back to a loose ball and bullying the defender away as she took the keeper 1v1 and beat her back post. It was her 3rd goal of the season. The Raiders would dominate the first half overall outshooting the Flames 13-2 and would take the 3-0 into half.

The Flames were sparked by the break and came out a much more aggressive team trying to get back into the match and chunk away at the 3-goal deficit. The Flames were able to knock the lead down to 2 goals after a quality finish in the 66th minute by Kylee Mastromonaco who it a distance shot back post past Liz Foster.

The Raiders would snuff out the thoughts of a Flames comeback with a goal in response in the 69th minute when Tatiana Garcia would beat 3 defenders in the CSM box and slot the ball across to Audrey Tacey who would hit the twine with her finish. It would be Tacey's 4th goal and Garcia's 4th assist on the year. 

Northwestern would see out the remaining 21 minutes and finish the match with a 4-1 victory. It moves the Raiders into strong position to clinch a postseason birth.

"It was a great match for us tonight," commented head coach Ben Karnish. "We dominated the early going and finished our chances and put CSM under pressure. It is hard to comeback from getting beat up early like that and our gals did a good job keeping the pedal down on the match. Even when we did get scored on, we got back to the 3-goal cushion right away."

The Raiders host Mount Marty College Wednesday night at 5pm at the NWC Soccer Complex.