FULTON – Trailing 2-0 early in the first half at Itawamba, Northwest pulled within a goal at the half and added two more in the final 45 minutes by way of Aaron Burrell and Fakhry Khulfan to come away with a thrilling, 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Indians. 

"Our guys played extremely hard and I was proud of their effort tonight," 10th-year head coach Peter Jarjoura said. "We put ourselves in a good position now in the north division, and we're looking to build on that when we host East Central next week."

With the win, Northwest improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in north division play, its best start in league play since the 2004 season. Itawamba fell to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the north.

A pair of goals from Andrew Ginn and Joseph Pauta in the opening 12 minutes gave Itawamba a 2-0 lead and knocked Northwest back on its heels.

But the Rangers cut the deficit in half just before intermission, as Khulfan drove the length of the field and notched his seventh goal of the year to make it 2-1 Indians.

Burrell's first collegiate goal knotted the game at 2-2 in the 53rd minute, marking the fifth different Ranger to score a goal this season.

Just as he did four days ago in a 1-0 win over Holmes, Khulfan once again was the hero for Northwest just 15 minutes later. After being fouled inside the box with the game tied, Khulfan drilled a penalty kick past Clark Pennington in the 69th minute for the eventual game-winner – his third in six games.

The game got extra chippy in the final minutes and added to an already physical game that saw a combined 20 fouls and two cards, including six from Itawamba in the closing three minutes of regulation.

Northwest got another solid effort from John Denton between the posts, with the freshman tying his career-high with 10 saves to earn his and the Rangers' fourth win of the 2011 campaign. Pennington finished with six saves for Itawamba.  

Northwest will put its three-match win streak on the line next Tuesday, welcoming East Central to Senatobia for a 4 p.m. kickoff. Live stats here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/northwestms/msoc/