FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 8, 2024) – Northern Arizona soccer (1-5-4) will play the first two matches of a four-game home stretch this week in Lumberjack Stadium, hosting Eastern Washington (6-4-3) and Idaho (8-3-2).
The Lumberjacks will kick off with the Eagles at 7 p.m. MST Thursday evening on
ESPN+ and live stats can be found
here. Sunday's matchup with the Vandals will kick off on
ESPN+ at 1 p.m. MST, live stats can be found
here.
Lumberjack soccer picked up their first victory last week in NAU's lone game of the week, picking up a 3-1 road win over Northern Colorado.
Haylee Phoenix earned her first-career Big Sky Player of the Week honors following Northern Arizona's first conference win last Thursday night. Phoenix rose to the occasion as the Lumberjacks took on the Northern Colorado Bears in Greeley on Thursday night where NAU would double their season total for scoring in one night, highlighted by Phoenix's two goals.
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.
Trinity Corcoran recorded six stops in 90 minutes on the pitch while
Olivia Bos, Lujan,
Madisyn Marchesi, and
Ella Freebury all joined in recording full 90 minutes.
Lujan leads the Jacks with five points in addition to a shots on goal percentage of .545, closely followed by Phoenix and
Deniah Wells who have four points each. Corcoran holds 54 saves on the year, with a save percentage of .831, marking third-best in the conference. As a team, NAU leads the league in save percentage of .808 through ten games played. NAU is averaging 11.2 shots per game, while putting 42.0 percent on frame.
Eastern Washington is heading on the road for the first time in Big Sky play, coming off a 2-2 draw with Idaho last week. The Eagles are looking for their first victory over the Jacks since 2019, as NAU currently holds a four-match win streak in the series. Northern Arizona leads the series at 16-9-2 overall with a 7-3-1 advantage in Flagstaff.
EWU currently sits in fourth place in conference standings, trailing Idaho, Montana, and Sacramento State. The Eagles are led by Chloe Pattison, tabbing nine goals and three assists to also lead the Big Sky in points with 21. Pattison has been awarded two Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors this season. In goal, the Eagles are led by Kamryn Willoughby with 13 starts and 56 saves on her season stat sheet.
Idaho will head to Flagstaff on Sunday to finalize a three-game road streak for the Vandals as they are coming off a 2-2 draw at Eastern Washington before heading to Montana for a Thursday night conference matchup. The Vandals lead the overall series at 5-4-4, gaining the advantage in the 2023 Big Sky Tournament Championship match with a 2-1 win over NAU.
The Vandals sit at the top of the league standings, tied with Montana for most wins in the Big Sky with eight. Margo Schoesler leads Idaho with five goals, recording a .500 shots on goal percentage through 13 starts. Alyssa Peters has recorded a Big Sky-best six assists on the season. In goal, the Vandals have relied on Paula Flores in all 13 matches, stopping 59 shots with a .797 save percentage.
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