FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — For the first time since 2008, senior
Adrian Nixt scored Northern Arizona's first hat trick against Idaho State Sunday afternoon to solidify a 4-0 lead. Nixt, one of five athletes with three goals in a single game, has earned the fourth spot in the record books.
"The biggest thing for us this season is that we've always known we are a good team, but we've lacked an identity," Head Coach
Andre Luciano said. "Today, we dug deep, we looked inside, we said we are a much better team and that each one of us has an innate quality about us that makes this team strong."
The Northern Arizona women's soccer team dominated the Bengals from the beginning of the game. Nixt scored her first two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game; the first came in the 2
nd minute from an assist by junior
Mei-Te Coco, who returned the favor from Nixt's assist to her Friday night, and the second was unassisted in the 8
th minute.
The third goal came in the 32
nd minute of the game from a cross by
Haleigh Van Allen right to junior
Madeline Waszak for her third goal of the season.
"The pack is only as strong as the wolf, and the wolf is only as strong as the pack," said Luciano. "We talked early in the season about having a lot of depth. Today everyone came in and gave us a huge lift, some surprised us and it was great to see some comeback from injury."
The Lumberjack bench saw a lot of action against Idaho State as Luciano substituted 17 into the game, including formerly injured
Amanda Bennett, who saw action Friday as well, and senior
Emma Bushell who suffered a knee injury before the season started.
Going into the second half, Northern Arizona was leading 3-0, in their highest lead and most goals in a game so far this season and it was capped off by Nixt's hat trick goal, sixth of the season, in the 47
th minute from a cross by junior
Ari Gonzalez.
"I wasn't able to finish much early in the season, and now is where it counts," Nixt said. "Coach has been telling us we need to finish off the game, and if our team is going to work hard on defense, we have to work hard on offense. This week was about focus and the result today came out of that."
With this sweep, the Lumberjacks have increased to 9-8 overall and 4-4 in the Big Sky. Northern Arizona will have a full week of practice before hosting Southern Utah Friday, Oct. 20 for senior night and their final home game.
