FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 20, 2023) – Northern Arizona Soccer (5-2-2) is heading on the road to begin Big Sky Conference play, starting with Sacramento State on Friday and Portland State on Sunday.
NAU flipped the script from last season's 0-5-4 start to the season ahead of Big Sky play. The Jacks will enter conference matches with the team's best non-conference win percentage in program history, .667. With only eight NCAA Division I teams with ten or more players scoring goals this season, NAU sits amongst the top ten in number of players scoring a goal this season as the Jacks have nine players each with a goal, a true attest to NAU's offensive success and depth.
The Lumberjacks are led offensively by
Maddie Shafer and
Allison Veloz who each hold a team high six points. NAU's leading goal scorer, Veloz, has netted three goals this season with the most recent coming in the Jacks 3-1 victory to LMU. Veloz scored the equalizer just three minutes after the Lions opened up scoring. Shafer has netted two goals alongside two assists, scoring her second goal of the season in penalty kick fashion after LMU was called for a handball inside the box.
NAU's
Trinity Corcoran's goals against average of .994 marks third best in the Big Sky Conference behind Montana keeper Dvorak and Idaho's Witte. The junior keeper has the fourth-best save percentage in the conference with .765.
"I think we're in a great place, since I've been here it's the first time going into conference with a winning record, and I think that matters. It's great having confidence before conference, it's hard going into conference with adversity, so I think for us we're feeling good," head coach
Alan Berrios said.
The last time the Jacks met with Sacramento State was October of 2022, where NAU clinched at least a share of the regular season title with a 2-0 victory in Flagstaff.
Avery Ott and
Josie Novak each found the back of the net in the win, while Shafer assisted both goals. Corcoran recorded the shutout with five saves in goal. Friday afternoon's match is set to start at 1:30 p.m. MST.
Sacramento State (2-5-2) is coming off a 1-1 draw with Cal Baptist. With the clock winding down and the Hornets team chasing a goal, junior Isabella Vinsonhaler knocked in the game-tying goal off a hasty corner kick by sophomore Madelyn Dougherty with three seconds remaining in the match. Following three consecutive defeats, Sacramento State took away a point from the contest, moving to 2-5-2 overall on the year. Vinsonhaler, who played her true freshman season at California Baptist in 2020 before transferring to Sacramento State, netted her first career goal on Sunday.
The Jacks and the Portland State Vikings (3-5-0) will kick off at 12 p.m. MST on Sunday afternoon, for the first time since NAU picked up a 3-0 shutout to claim the 2022 Big Sky regular season championship title outright.
Grace Quinn,
Dai Williams, and
Kayla Shebar each scored a goal while Corcoran recorded her ninth shutout of the season.
PSU is coming off of back-to-back victories against Riverside and CSUN, ahead of hosting Northern Colorado on Friday night. Raniyah Burton and Abi Hoffman currently lead the Vikings offensively, with three goals apiece. Burton is coming off a Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week award following a three goal and one assist weekend to lift the Vikings to two wins.
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