FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 5, 2023) – NAU Soccer fell to the No. 2 seed Idaho Vandals in a 2-1 Big Sky Championship final on Sunday afternoon.
"I thank my players, they have been phenomenal and worked so hard," Berrios said. "They gave us everything they had, that's one thing I'll never question with this team is the attitude that they had and the commitment, I'm hurting for them but I'm so thankful for them."
The Vandals took their first shot on goal right away off kick-off as Jadyn Hanks began the match with speed up the right side, testing Corcoran on the right of her line. Hanks put her second shot on goal just a minute later as Corcoran got a hand on it for her second save of the match, the Jacks were able to clear the corner quickly as
Dai Williams headed it out of the box.
Corcoran was tested five times through the first seventeen minutes, making four stops as
Grace Quinn also had a stop at the line for the Jacks.
The Jacks had a good look to go up 1-0 with 25 minutes remaining in the first half as
Logan Maszton took a flip throw-in from the right side, sending the ball straight to
Holly Hunter who pushed it back into the middle of the box for
Joey Lujan. Lujan's shot hit the cross bar and went back into play outside of the box.
With ten minutes remaining in the first 45, the Lumberjacks were awarded a free kick just left of Idaho's box.
Josie Novak took the kick, looking to connect with
Jaylin Borden on the right of the goal, but the wind carried the ball out of bounds. Two minutes later Williams made a run up the field, flicking it back to
Joey Lujan who sent the long shot on finding the equalizer past Kira Witte.
The Vandals were able to quickly respond as Naomi Alvarez found the back of the net for the go-ahead goal one minute later. With three minutes to go
Maddie Shafer looked for the equalizer from about 25 feet out, going just wide left.
At the break, the Vandals led 2-1 while putting seven shots on goal in comparison to NAU's two. In the final 20 minutes of the first half, the Jacks held the Vandals to just one shot on goal.
Natalie Manzo started the second half for NAU, quickly making two stops on shots from Margo Schoesler just 45 seconds apart.
Despite the Jacks playing a dominant second half, NAU was only able to put one more shot on goal while Idaho's back line found late success. The final shot count was an even 16-16 while Corcoran and Manzo both closed out the match with four saves a piece.
Four Northern Arizona players were named to the Big Sky all-tournament team, with
Allie Larsen,
Joey Lujan,
Allison Veloz, and
Holly Hunter all earning the honors from the conference.
