FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 30, 2023) – The Lumberjacks (1-2-1) are looking to pick up their second win of the season this weekend as the team will host Pac-12 opponent Oregon on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST and will face Southern Utah in Cedar City on Sunday at 12 p.m. MST.
Live stats for Thursday night's game will be available here and the game will be available to stream here. Live stats for Sunday's game will be available here and the game will be available to stream here.
NAU is coming off a tough weekend of home matches where the Jacks fell 1-0 to the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners and dropped to Arizona in a 2-1 match. With four matches of non-conference play left on the schedule, head coach
Alan Berrios and the Lumberjacks are looking to settle in and pick of some wins heading into Big Sky play.
The Jacks have put four goals in the back of the net this season, with the most recent coming from
Haylee Phoenix against Arizona on Sunday. Phoenix converted on a
Logan Maszton throw-in, putting the shot on off a deflection from an Arizona defender sneaking past the Wildcats keeper for Phoenix's first of the regular season. Looking to lock in starters, the Lumberjacks have split time between goalkeepers in
Trinity Corcoran and
Natalie Manzo. The pair have one shared shutout this season.
Leading the Jacks offensively, Phoenix,
Maddie Shafer, and
Allison Veloz have all scored a goal apiece this season with Shafer,
Allie Larsen, and Maszton all adding assists to their stat line. On the defensive side of the ball, Berrios has turned to
Jaylin Borden,
Joey Lujan,
Allie Larsen, and
Logan Maszton as the team sits at third in the Big Sky in goals allowed with just five through 360 minutes of play.
Oregon (0-2-1) will enter Thursday night's match eyeing the Ducks first victory of the season. The Ducks dropped their first two regular season matches in a 2-0 loss hosting Baylor and a 4-0 loss at No. 10 Arkansas. Oregon keeper Maddy Goldberg recorded a career-high eight saves to earn her first career shutout as Oregon and Missouri State played to a 0-0 draw Sunday. Offensively, Oregon has hit a scoring drought to open the 2023 season, playing three regular season games with zero goals recorded.
Goldberg has seen success against the Lumberjacks before, becoming the third player in program history to record an assist. That 4-2 victory for the Ducks was the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The Lumberjacks led the Ducks in the first half at 2-1 for approximately fifteen minutes.
Southern Utah (0-2-2) will also be searching for their first victory of the regular season as the Thunderbirds take on Cal State Fullerton in a Thursday night road match before welcoming NAU to the Thunderbird Soccer Field on Sunday.
NAU's
Berlyn Dibble and
Natalia Sepulveda will face their former head coach Kai Edwards and team for the first time since transferring to NAU earlier this year. The Thunderbirds are currently led by freshman forward Skylar Cano. Cano has quickly found her rhythm with the Thunderbirds, scoring two goals in 163 minutes. Sammie Sofonia trails with one goal and one assist, while Whitney Gardner leads the team in shots on goal with six this season. In goal for the Thunderbirds, Julia Ortega has seen all but ten minutes on the field this season, allowing nine goals while recording 31 saves for a .775 save percentage.
The last time these two teams met was October of 2021, in what would be Southern Utah's final season in the Big Sky Conference. The Lumberjacks pulled off a 2-0 shutout in Flagstaff with one of NAU's goals being scored by Shafer. The Lumberjacks have only fallen to SUU twice in program history with the last time coming in 2017. NAU leads the all-time series at 17-2-2 while on a win streak of five matches.
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