LOS ANGELES – The West Texas A&M men's soccer team saw its season come to an end in Los Angeles on Thursday night against Northwest Nazarene. The Buffs and Nighthawks ended in a 1-1 draw, but Northwest Nazarene advances in the NCAA tournament on penalty kicks, 6-5.
 
WT saw its best look in the first half come off the foot of Anthony Perea in the 22^nd minute. Perea took a one-timer from outside the box that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced straight down. The ball came close to crossing the goal line but didn't cross completely as the Buffs and Nighthawks went to the break scoreless.
 
Northwest Nazarene found a clean look at the goal less than five minutes into the second half, but the free kick sailed high of the bar. The Buffs responded with a shot of their own as Ben Siri hit the bar a few minutes later. After a pair of close calls, the two teams exchanged missed shots until the 81^st minute. After a WT foul, Northwest Nazarene sent an in-swinging ball to the back post where Jake Levine put his header into the back of the net. The Buffs fought back immediately as Perea found Kenny Brown in the middle of the field. Brown settled the ball before ripping a shot from 25-yards out to tie the game. After 90 minutes of play, WT and Northwest Nazarene went into overtime tied at one.
 
The first overtime period saw little action with the Buffs and Nighthawks combining for three shots total in the 10-minute period. In the second overtime, Northwest Nazarene looked to have scored the go-ahead goal, but Asaf Kristal punched the ball of the goal line to keep the game tied. As the clock ticked under 20 seconds to play, the Nighthawks made one final push, and the Buffs answered with a final defensive stand.
 
In the penalty kick shootout, each team converted their first five attempts. On WT's sixth attempt, Sawyer Price came up big, stopping the Buffs' shot. On Northwest Nazarene's next kick, Alfonso Aragon kept WT in the shootout by making a save of his own. Price answered Aragon's save with a second consecutive save of his own to give the Nighthawks a shot at the win. Zakaria Daaou ended the shootout as he successfully placed his kick in the back of the net to end WT's season.
 
The Buffs end the 2022 season with an overall record of 6-4-9.