FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 30, 2022) - The Lumberjacks dropped their first home match of the week to the UC San Diego Tritons in a 1-0 match.
"We are producing, but it really doesn't matter if you don't convert. It starts to matter when you convert, when you don't, it actually becomes a negative, and we're going to talk a lot about having composure inside the box," head coach Kylie Louw said.
NAU started off strong, controlling possession and putting up four shots in four minutes to start the game. Although the team put up seven additional shots to UCSD's 14, NAU only had one more shot on goal (7), than the Tritons (6) throughout the entire match.
In the 31st minute of the match, Lucy Tang sent a long shot from the left side of the field into the box, and Ava D'arcangelo was able to step right in front of NAU goalkeeper Ashley Williams, putting the ball in the back of the net and giving the Tritons the lead.
The 'Jacks started Williams in goal tonight who made three incredible saves throughout her 45 minutes. Corcoran suited up for the second half of the match, and made two saves throughout her 45 minutes of play.
Coming out of halftime, NAU was quick to pick the play back up and create chances. The possession was equal for both the Lumberjacks and Tritons as each team's back lines applied pressure.
NAU saw their best chance on a Taylor Gomez corner kick, which was headed into the net by Jaylin Borden but ultimately deemed offsides by the referee in the 78th minute of the match. Borden put two shots on goal for NAU tonight, both saves coming from UCSD's Keara Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald played all 90 minutes for the Tritons, making seven saves total.
Fighting to tie the match up till the very last second of the match, Rylie Curran connected with Morgan Caslin up the left side as Caslin moved right past UCSD defenders and sent a shot to the top left corner of the goal as Fitzgerald made the jumping save to finalize the match.
"We put ourselves in a tough position because we try and get home games to get an advantage and we haven't taken advantage of that," Louw said. "Now we have to look at it from a different perspective, we have to go back to the drawing board because whatever we're doing is not equalling wins."
NAU soccer will be back in action this Thursday night at 7 p.m. MST in Lumberjack Stadium to take on Georgia Southern University and close out the team's seven game homestead before next week's road match.
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