GREELEY, Colo. (October 3, 2024) – Northern Arizona soccer earned its first victory of the season to improve to 1-1-0 in Big Sky play with a 3-1 win over the Northern Colorado Bears on Thursday night.
The scoring floodgates opened for the Lumberjacks when
Haylee Phoenix gave NAU a 1-0 lead in the first half converting on a corner kick from
Micala Boex. Phoenix quickly found her footing coming off the bench, as she went on to play 53 minutes on the pitch. Boex's assist marks her first with the Jacks while Phoenix's goal comes as her second with NAU.
Nine first-half shots would pave the way for Northern Arizona while holding the Bears to five. Each team was awarded two corners through the first frame, while three offsides calls on UNC would slow momentum down.
Coming out of the half NAU's offensive success continued as
Joey Lujan found her second goal of the season just four minutes in off a free kick from 15 yards outside Northern Colorado's box. Lujan's kick found the top left corner as Kayla Lindberg's hand tipped the ball.
In the 65
th minute,
Deniah Wells snuck a pass inside the box from the right side as she broke through two defenders, sending the ball on UNC's line. Phoenix tipped in her second goal of the night past the keeper and a defender. Northern Colorado's Brooke Holmberg would spoil the shutout for the Jacks with a goal sneaking in high just under the crossbar.
Five NAU players would finish with 90 minutes logged as
Trinity Corcoran picked up six stops on the night backed by
Olivia Bos, Lujan,
Madisyn Marchesi, and
Ella Freebury's 90-minutes matches. The Jacks will now begin a four-match home stretch, hosting Eastern Washington, Idaho, Portland State, and Sacramento State to close out the 2024 home slate.
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