OPENING KICKOFF: The Snow College men's soccer team will kickoff against No. 11 North Idaho College Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The match will be played in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
 
Following Thursday's match, the Badgers will take on Pacific Northwest Christian College Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Kennewick, Washington. 
 
The Badgers are coming off a split weekend to wrap up their home conference schedule. They dropped to No. 2 Salt Lake Community College 3-1 last Thursday. Snow College then defeated Colorado Northwestern Community College 5-2 last Saturday.
 
KNOW YOUR FOE: The Badgers are now 0-1 against NIC after dropping the first ever matchup 4-0. The Badgers currently sit in third place in the Region 18 standings behind the Bruins and Cardinals. A win against NIC Thursday would propel the Badgers into second place in the standings.
 
The Cardinals are 7-0-3 in conference play and are coming off a 2-1 victory against the College of Southern Idaho and a 1-1 draw against Truckee Meadows Community College. The three Cardinal draws came against Utah State University Eastern (1-1), SLCC (0-0), and TMCC (1-1).
 
The Badgers had five shots on goal in their previous matchup against the Cardinals that all got turned away by the NIC goalkeeper. Mathias Christensen saw 12 shots on goal, saving eight while allowing four goals.
 
Snow College will then travel to PNWCC to take on the Gladiators. The Badgers are 3-0 against PNWCC historically with all three games being a shutout victory for the Badgers. The Badgers have scored 40 goals throughout these three games with the largest margin of victory being 21-0 last season.
 
The Gladiators are 0-10 in conference play and are coming off losses to TMCC (6-0) and CSI (8-0). The Badgers defeated PNWCC 13-0 in their earlier matchup this season. The Badgers took a total of 31 shots and allowed only one shot throughout the game. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Snow College men's soccer team split its last home conference weekend, dropping to No. 2 Salt Lake Community College and beating Colorado Northwestern Community College. The Badgers lost 3-1 to the Bruins and defeated the Spartans 5-2.
 
The No. 19 Badgers were coming off a 1-0 victory over Utah State University Eastern that pushed their conference record to 6-2-0. 
 
Snow College is currently in third place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings behind No. 2 SLCC and No. 13 North Idaho College.
 
The Bruins netted the first goal of the match in the 24th minute to take the lead. 10 minutes later, Jack Cook evened the game with a goal of his own in the 34th minute on an assist from Aidan Moore. 
 
The game entered halftime knotted at 1. Mathias Christensen made two saves to hold the Bruins at 1 goal in the first half. 
 
The second half got a quick start when the Bruins scored in the first minute to regain the lead. SLCC scored again in the 82nd minute to extend its lead.
 
The Badgers ultimately fell to the Bruins 3-1 after taking 11 shots and allowing 13. Christensen saved three shots throughout the game after facing six shots on goal. The game was very physical with 42 total fouls called across the game.
 
The Badgers then took on the Spartans and defeated them 5-2. The Badgers defeated the Spartans 2-0 in their earlier matchup this season. 
 
Nefthaly Loya opened the scoring for the Badgers with a pair of goals. The first of which came in the 14th minute. Cook fired a shot which was saved by the Spartans' keeper. The rebound found the foot of Loya, who scored to give the Badgers the lead. Loya's second goal came in the 17th minute assisted by Luis Pantoja.
 
Max Mayer then joined the scoring with a goal in the 44th minute also assisted by Pantoja. This gave the Badgers a 3-0 lead entering halftime. 
 
The Badgers took 15 shots while limiting CNCC to two shots in the first half. Carson Wilde also subbed in for Christensen in goal for the Badgers at halftime.
 
Mayer reopened the scoring to begin the second half netting a goal in the 52nd minute on a deflection from Jack Burman. Burman then scored his own goal on a header in the 54th minute assisted by Carlos Rodriguez.
 
The Spartans scored their first goal in the 66th minute to bring the score to 5-1. The Spartans scored again in the 76th minute to try to pull the game back within reach.
 
However, the Badgers were able to keep CNCC at arms reach to claim their seventh conference win. Wilde saved three shots and allowed two goals against the Spartans.
 
UP NEXT: The Badgers will wrap up conference play against Truckee Meadows Community College Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. in Reno, Nevada. The Badgers will then play their last regular season game at the College of Southern Idaho Oct. 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Twin Falls, Idaho. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.