FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 23, 2023) – Northern Arizona Soccer (1-0-1) will host its first two regular season home matches this weekend.
Friday, Aug. 25, the Lumberjacks will host Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m. where the first 300 fans in attendance will receive 'Raise The Flag' stickers. Sunday, Aug. 27, NAU hosts in-state opponent, Arizona, at 1 p.m. for 'Gold Out' day. The first 100 students in attendance will receive exclusive gold out t-shirts. Both games are free to attend and open to the public at Lumberjack Stadium.
The Jacks are coming off a successful opening weekend of play, picking up a 3-2 victory on the road at Conference-USA opponent, UTEP, and a 0-0 draw with Mountain West's best, New Mexico. Amongst the nine Big Sky Soccer institutions, NAU is one of three programs to have recorded a win in the first two games of the regular season, sitting alongside Montana (2-0-0) and Idaho (1-1-0).
In the Big Sky, NAU sits in second in save percentage with .818, as Trinity Corcoran and Natalie Manzo have split playing time evenly through the first two matches. Manzo, with 90 minutes on her resume in the regular season, made five saves to keep the Lumberjacks in the lead at UTEP while recording another three at New Mexico.
Maddie Shafer earned her fourth-ever Big Sky offensive player of the week honors, marking her first this season, the conference announced on Tuesday. The senior recorded an assist in the regular season opener as well as the game winning goal for NAU. Shafer now sits in second in the Big Sky in points with three total while averaging 70 minutes per game. Shafer ended the 2022 season at the top of the conference leaderboard in points, finishing the season with 16.
The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (0-1-1) are heading into Friday night's match looking to pick up their first victory of the season. The runners took on head coach Bernardo Silva's former program in the Sacramento State Hornets. Where the two teams ended with a 1-1 draw in Sacramento. The Roadrunners went on to fall 2-1 at Fresno State later in the weekend.
CSUB is led by Regielly Halldorsdottir and Hailey Russell who both have put up one goal apiece for the team this season, while Russell leads the team in shots with three total. In goal for the Runners, Hollee Hercik has made both starts this season, recording seven saves for a .700 save percentage on the season.
Friday night's game will lead to a series advantage as NAU and CSUB have split the series evenly with both teams recording two wins and two losses in the four times the programs have met. The last meeting was September of 2022 in California, where the Runners got the edge and recorded a 2-1 victory.
Ahead of Sunday's match, Arizona will take on GCU for their second regular season game. The Wildcats fell in their regular season opener on the road at Iowa State in a 2-1 loss. Arizona also dropped to Pepperdine in an 2-1 exhibition in Malibu. Leading the Cats offensively is Nicole Dallin who has one goal recorded with a team high, two shots. In goal, Hope Hisey has recorded four saves with a save percentage of .667.
The Jacks last saw the Cats in August of 2022 in an exhibition matchup in Flagstaff. Arizona claimed a 1-0 victory off a Samantha Baytosh goal in the second half. Arizona leads the overall series 9-0-2, as the Lumberjacks eye a first-time victory over the Wildcats in regular season history.
To stay up to date with NAU Soccer, follow the team on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
