FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 3, 2018) – The Northern Arizona women's soccer team will be back at home for the first time in 21 days on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. MST against Portland State. The Lumberjacks will finish off their weekend games against Sacramento State at home on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 12 p.m. MST.
NAU is currently 6-3-2 on the season after beating in-conference opponent Southern Utah 2-0 last weekend. The 'Jacks are currently fourth in the Big Sky with a conference record of 2-0-1. The team was able to pick up seven of the available nine points over the last two weekends.
"For us to go on the road and pick up two wins and a tie against three traditionally difficult places to play at is a real positive for this team," NAU head coach
Andre Luciano said. "We have continued to stress to the team that we can't just rest and be happy with our last performance. We aren't solely judged on our last performance but rather how we prepare for our next opponent."
In the Lumberjacks' lone game last weekend they were able to pull out a 2-0 win against Southern Utah on the road. The NAU offense came out strong as Paige Mailing headed the ball into the back of the net in the 6
th minute of the game off of a long pass from
Madison Montgomery. The 'Jacks were able to put up an insurance goal in the second half when
Ana Rivera connected on a cross by Mailing.
Coming into the weekend Portland State is 3-8 on the season, while going 1-3 in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings are currently tied for seventh in the conference.
Sacramento State is coming into the weekend at 3-8-2, while going 2-2-0 in the conference. The Hornets are currently fifth in the Big Sky.
2018 Notables
•
Tatum Heeres leads the team in assists with four, which is currently tied for second in the Big Sky Conference
•
Taryn Benham has five shutouts on the year, which is tied for the lead in the Big Sky Conference
• Seven different players (
Victoria Cooper,
Kayla Terhune,
Kylie Kapustka,
Ari Gonzalez,
Haleigh Van Allen,
Madeline Waszak, Ana Rivera) have scored one goal each, while
Sam Larberg has scored two, and
Paige Maling leads NAU with three
• Northern Arizona has tied for the fewest goals allowed in the Big Sky Conference with 10
•
Carly Gamble has played in all but 65 minutes on the season
• Northern Arizona leads the Big Sky in average home attendance at 947 per game
The Scout
Portland State
Day: Friday, Oct. 5
Time: 7 p.m. MST
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Coverage: Live Stats |
https://bit.ly/2yMR72F
The Vikings are entering Friday night with a record of 3-8 on the season, while they were able to pick up a win in their last game against Idaho State 3-1. Portland State has been able to find success at home on the season as they are 2-2 on the season. Unfortunately PSU has not found the same success on the road at 0-5 so far.
Portland State's offense has been middle of the pack in the Big Sky so far as it is tied for fourth with 13 goals on the season. This averages to 1.18 goals per game. The Vikings' leading goal scorer is Krystal De Ramos, who has had three on the year on just 11 shots. Portland State's other offense comes from Rilee Castilla. Surprisingly, each of these players have only played in nine of the 11 games on the season.
"They are a dangerous team, as they have some gifted goal scorers," Luciano said. "I really believe Ramos is a play maker as she has been a force in the conference over the last four years and if we don't pay attention to her she will punish us."
Defensively, Portland State has struggled to stop opposing teams as it has given up 23 goals on the 158 shots on the season. The PSU goalkeeper Abbie Faingold has been able to come up with 53 saves through the first 11 games, which ranks her third in the Big Sky Conference.
The Scout
Sacramento State
Day: Sunday, Oct. 7
Time: 12 p.m. MST
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Coverage: Live Stats |
https://bit.ly/2yMR72F
Sacramento State will be entering the Sunday match with a record of 3-8-2 on the season. The Hornets have gone 2-2 in their last four games with Big Sky wins over Eastern Washington and Idaho State. Just like Portland State, Sacramento State has not been able to find much success on the road as it is 1-4-1 on the year.
"It's always been a battle between us and I can't even think of how many games have gone into overtime or have been a one goal game since 2010," Luciano said.
The Hornets' offense has been able to have success, scoring 15 goals throughout the season for an average of 1.15 goals per game. The offense is spread out as Sacrament State has nine different players with a goal. Skylar Littlefield leads the team with three. Another offensive weapon for the Hornets is Kylee Kim-Bustillos, who has four assists on the season. This has her tied for second in the Big Sky Conference.
"They have some really good players on their roster and we are going to have stay focused and dialed in," Luciano said.
SAC's defense has given up a total of 164 shots on the year, with a total of 24 goals. The Hornets have had a two goalkeeper system that has seen both Ailey Collins and Kaylyn Evans in net. Evans has seen a majority of the action playing in 10 of the 13 game. The two combined have 51 saves, with a save percentage of .680.
Looking Ahead
Northern Arizona will be back on the road next weekend as it will travel to Northern Colorado on Friday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. MST. The second game of the Lumberjacks weekend will be against Montana on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. MST.
