ORANGE CITY, Iowa - It was a beautiful day in Orange City and a hard-fought battle at the NWC Soccer Complex. An up and down game led to a season opening draw for the Red Raiders. 

The starting lineup featured a quartet of freshmen (Drew Darnold, Jannes Kuehn, Pol Foix, and Gonzalo Domingo) making their Red Raider debut.  

The first 45 minutes of the match were a defensive stalemate featuring many impressive plays on the back line from both sides of the coin. 

The tide of the match switched quickly after the teams swapped goals. 

It only took 8 minutes into the second half before the first goal of the game was scored. Stan van den Beld found the back of the net off an assist from freshman Pol Foix. 

The Red Raiders kept their foot on the gas pedal and looked to build on their lead. Four minutes later Northwestern found themselves in the Graceland 18-yard box where van den Beld found freshman Drew Darnold for his first career collegiate goal. 

The lead was looking safe, but there was plenty of time for Graceland to claw their way back into this game. A pair of defensive line breakdowns led to two penalty kicks which Lucas Porter converted for the Yellow Jackets. Only 10 minutes later, the game was tied at 2-2. 

Both teams were unable to find the back of the net for the remainder of the contest and the score of 2-2 in the 66th minute became the final score for the game. 

Northwestern Freshmen Fransisco Sanchez, Nino Berger, Miles Baccam, Charles Saydee, and Daniel Lindahl also made their collegiate debuts on Saturday afternoon. 

The Raiders will look to regroup and bounce back for their next game in Orange City on Wednesday at 3:45 against Culver-Stockton.