POCATELLO, Idaho (October 27, 2024) – Closing out the regular season with back-to-back victories on the road, Northern Arizona soccer (4-3-1) picked up a 2-0 shutout win over Idaho State (2-10-5) to secure the No. 4 seed heading into the 2024 Big Sky Conference tournament in Missoula, Montana set to take place from Nov. 6-10.
Joey Lujan added two assists to her stat line for the season, picking up an assist on each goal as NAU's keeper duo of
Trinity Corcoran and
Natalie Manzo combined for a total of seven stops for their first shared shutout of the season. Olivia Boz,
Erin O'Connor, and
Ella Freebury all recorded 90-minute matches on the pitch.
Avery Ott found her first goal of the season in the 11
th minute, giving the Jacks breathing room early.
Valentina Navetta and Lujan were each credited with assists. NAU took a 10-5 shots advantage into halftime.
Coming out of the break,
Haylee Phoenix broke the three-way tie for leading scorer in Big Sky play, finding her fifth goal of the season in the 59
th minute from a Lujan pass, giving the Lumberjacks the 2-0 lead.
The Jacks closed out the match with 25 totsl shots, 12 coming on goal with ISU found 16 shots with seven coming on goal. The Bengals needed eight second-half stops while
Micala Boex,
Haylee Phoenix, and
McKenzie Coleman all led the Lumberjack offense with three shots each.
NAU Soccer will now face the Sacramento State Hornets on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. MST. The Jacks and the Hornets ended in a 1-1 final during their regular season matchup in 2024, with Phoenix scoring for the Jacks and Madelyn Dougherty tying things up for the Hornets.
To stay up to date with NAU Soccer, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
