FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 14, 2023) – NAU Soccer is heading on the road this week to kick off the regular season with matches at UTEP and New Mexico.
The Lumberjacks will take on the UTEP Miners on Thursday at 5 p.m. MST and the New Mexcio Lobos on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. MST. Thursday's match will have live stats available here. Sunday's match will be streamed here.
The Lumberjacks are heading into the regular season with one exhibition match under their belt, as NAU hosted Embry-Riddle for a 1-0 victory this past Saturday. With 17 newcomers, head coach
Alan Berrios was able to see some different lineups and formations, as the team worked out some nerves and settled back into play.
Haylee Phoenix found her first goal in blue and gold off a quick pass inside the box from
Allison Veloz to lead the team to the 1-0 shutout victory.
Trinity Corcoran got the nod for the start, playing 45 minutes and recording 4 saves while
Natalie Manzo came in for the second half start, recording one save in 45 minutes for a shared shutout for the pair.
UTEP will enter Thursday night's game coming off an exhibition draw against New Mexico. The Miners goalkeeper Tionna Taylor denied a penalty kick three minutes into the match, however the rebound snuck past to put New Mexico up 1-0 quickly. In the 65
th minute, UTEP took their chance at tying things up, when senior Emerson Kidd scored off a free kick.
The Miners brought in a total of 10 newcomers, including six freshman and four transfers. The team went 4-11-3 last season. The Miners will enter the season without their leading scorer last season, Tessa Carlin, who recorded 4 goals and 2 assists in a team high 18 starts in 2022.
New Mexico will begin their regular season on Thurday with a match against Texas Tech, after starting preseason matches with an exhibition against UTEP and CSU Pueblo. The Lobos were picked to finish third in the Mountain West conference coaches' poll. It marked the fifth consecutive year that the Lobos were picked by the conference coaches to finish in the top three of the conference standings and the sixth time in head coach Heather Dyche's tenure at UNM with Dyche entering her ninth season at the helm.
UNM enters the season following a 7-3-9 record overall and a 5-1-5 conference campaign in 2022, in which the Lobos claimed their third consecutive Mountain West regular-season championship. In the previous eight seasons under Dyche, the Lobos have gone 54-22-12 against MW opponents and have won four MW titles.
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