FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 17, 2018) – Northern Arizona University soccer will be back at home for their final two games of the season. The Lumberjacks will be celebrating their senior weekend with games against Eastern Washington on Friday, Oct 19 at 7 p.m. MST and Idaho on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 12 p.m. MST.
The Sunday game against Idaho will be NAU's senior day in which the team will be recognizing seven of its seniors. The seniors are
Mei-Te Coco,
Alexis Moest,
Madeline Waszak,
Ari Gonzalez,
Haleigh Van Allen,
Victoria Cooper and
Carly Gamble. This senior class's overall record is 37-28-11 over the past four years, with the 2018 season being their best.
"Senior weekends are always bittersweet," NAU head coach
Andre Luciano said. "We are celebrating the four years that the players have been here and the fact that they have been able to contribute to our program. Senior weekend is extremely important, but we have an extremely focused group that has a much bigger goal of winning the conference."
The 'Jacks are 9-3-3 on the season, while currently riding a seven-game streak without a loss. Over this time NAU has gone 5-0-2 in the Big Sky Conference which ranks them second in the conference to Weber State. If the Lumberjacks win out, they will be able to win the regular season conference title.
Northern Arizona's success on the season and conference has come off the back of the defense. The team is on a six-game shutout streak which ties NAU's record for the longest streak. This shutout streak has consisted of 614 minutes played. Breaking the previous record of 569 minutes set in 2010.
In conference play, the Lumberjacks have shown a diverse offense that is not led by one player, but instead a multitude of key players. Some of the noteworthy players throughout Big Sky play have been
Paige Maling,
Ana Rivera,
Kayla Terhune, Gonzalez and Van Allen. Each of these players has scored at least two goals and an assist over the seven games.
2018 Notables
The Scout
Eastern Washington
Day: Friday, Oct. 19
Time: 7 p.m. MST
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz
Coverage: Live Stats |
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Eastern Washington will be entering Friday's matchup with a record of 6-7-3 on the season while going 2-4-1 in the Big Sky play. The Eagles are 1-3 in their last four games, with an 8-1 win over Idaho State in their last game. The eight goals mark a Big Sky record for most goals in a conference game.
The back to back Big Sky Champion has shown that they can still score as they are third in the conference in goals with 20. That is 1.25 goals per game. The Eagles offense is finding their goals through their large amount of shots. EWU leads the conference with 259 shots, which is 16.19 shots per game. The leading scorer for Eastern Washington is Jenny Chavez with three on the season. While there are six different Eagles with two.
"They are the two-time defending conference champions so I have a lot of respect for them and their players," Luciano said. "I feel that they have one of the best center mids in the conference, Jenny Chavez and I know they are going to be fighting for points this weekend so it'll be a massive game for both teams Friday night."
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles have limited their opponents to 17 goals on the season. Eastern Washington has had to use two goalkeepers on the season, Hadley Bezon and Kelsee Winston. Winston has been the main starter as she has started 14 of the 16 games. In these games Winston has only given up 12 goals, which equates to 0.82 goals per game.
The Scout
University of Idaho
Day: Sunday, Oct. 21
Time: 12 p.m. MST
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Coverage: Live Stats |
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On Sunday Idaho will be entering Flagstaff with a record of 8-6-2 on the season while going 5-1-1 in the conference. The Vandals are coming off of a great weekend where they won both of their matches against Idaho State and Weber State. This marked the first loss of the season for Weber State.
Offensively Idaho has scored 19 goals in its 16 games on the season. Like NAU the Vandals are scoring by committee as they have had nine players score on the season. The leading scorer is Myah Merino with four goals while Bridget Daley and Kayla Wantanabe have three goals each.
"Idaho has had a great turnaround this season," Luciano said. "They have been very good at home this year so I am happy that we are getting them here at 7000 feet."
On the defensive side of the ball, Idaho has been able to dominate games as it has allowed the third-fewest goals in the conference with 16. A large part of this is the goalkeeper Makayl Presgrave, who has recorded 72 saves on the season with seven shutouts. The seven shutouts are second in the conference.
Looking Ahead
Northern Arizona will have a week off before they had to Ogden, Utah to begin its quest to win the 2018 Big Sky Championship. The last time the Lumberjacks won the title was in 2014.
