SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's soccer team took a tough result to open the 2018 season with a 1–0 setback at Northwest Nazarene University Thursday on the NNU Soccer Field. It was the season opener for both teams.

The Crusaders scored the game's lone goal on a Rikki Myers strike in the 11th minute. Although the Otters earned a significant advantage in possession, they never found their footing on the NNU turf surface as the final pass in the offensive third consistently eluded them all evening.

NNU out–shot the Otters 12–5, putting 11 of its shots on frame.
 

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THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN… a Sahana Bojorquez shot sailed wide in the 88th minute. It proved to be CSUMB's final attempt of the game..

BIG DEBUT IN GOAL… Assistant coach–turned goalkeeper Stephanie Busch enjoyed a huge match in her first appearance with the Otters. Her 11 saves Thursday night rank No. 3 in the CSUMB record book for saves in a match. She broke her own personal record of 10 saves set against BYU while she was at Saint Mary's College on Oct. 10, 2014.

OTTERS 11… Including Stephanie Busch, 11 Otters made their debutante performances in Thursday's match.

LEADERS OF THE RAFT… GOALS: None; ASSISTS: None; SHOTS: Sahana Bojorquez 2; SAVES: Stephanie Busch 11.

THE LAST WORD… "It was a disappointing performance today on the road. We never settled into the game and NNU was a committed and competitive team that really disrupted our flow. We will definitely need to be more gritty before we start to find success." — CSUMB Head Coach Laura Van Wart

THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters close their 2–game trip to Idaho by facing Minnesota–Crookston Saturday at 10 a.m. MST (9 a.m. in the Monterey Bay area).