CEDAR CITY, Utah (September 30, 2018) – Paige Maling and
Ana Rivera were able to supply the offense for the NAU women's soccer as it posted a 2-0 shutout win over Southern Utah on Sunday. The Lumberjacks were able to dominate the game both defensively and offensively throughout the contest.
The victory for NAU pushes it to 6-3-2 on the season, while moving to 2-0-1 in the Big Sky Conference. With the loss Southern Utah falls to 1-11 on the season and 0-3-0 in conference play.
"This was a big game as the team was able to go on the road and take seven of the nine points," NAU head coach
Andre Luciano said. "I hope that we can continue this momentum for the rest of the conference."
The 'Jacks were exhibited a dominant offense in Sunday's win after a 0-0 draw against Weber State on Friday. In Sunday's victory, NAU was able to put up 16 shots total, with 11 of them being on the net.
"We created a lot of chances and I give credit to the SSU goalkeeper (Brianna) Aldridge for keeping them in it," Luciano said.
Maling was able to get things going early when she connected on a header off a long pass from
Madison Montgomery in the 6
th minute. The goal represented her team-high third goal of the season.
NAU's offense was able to keep the pressure up throughout the half as it posted five shots total. A missed opportunity for the Lumberjacks was when
Tatum Heeres had her penalty kick saved by the Thunderbirds goalkeeper Aldridge in the 39
th minute.
The 'Jacks were able to get an insurance goal in the second half off the foot of
Ana Rivera in the 53
rd minute. The goal came from the top of the box, by way of a cross by Maling. This marks Rivera's first career goal as a Lumberjack.
"We came to the field focused and did what we needed to do," Rivera said. "Coach (Luciano) has been on us all week about being more dangerous on the attack and penetrating up the field and when we did that today we were successful in our play. "
Besides the offense, the 'Jacks defense had an outstanding game as they had only given up eight shots on the day, with two of them being on target. This game marks the fifth shutout of the season for the NAU goalkeeper
Taryn Benham. She also picked up her 34
th and 35
th saves of the year.
"Our defensive team success was a team effort," Luciano said. "Everyone did what they were supposed to do to neglect any dangerous chances that Southern Utah tried to create."
Northern Arizona will be finally be back home next weekend as they continue conference play against Portland State on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. MST and Sacramento State on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 12 p.m. MST. This will be the Lumberjacks first home game in 21 days.
