FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 12, 2025) – The Northern Arizona soccer team officially opens the 2025 season on Thursday when the Lumberjacks welcome Embry-Riddle to Lumberjack Stadium at 7 p.m. NAU also hosts Nevada on Sunday at 1 p.m. as part of a two-match season-opening homestand.
Both matches from Lumberjack Stadium will be streamed on ESPN+. All home tilts in Flagstaff are free for all fans to attend. Thursday's season opener will serve as Youth Teams Night with a recognition of teams in attendance at halftime.
Led by head coach
Alan Berrios, the Lumberjacks were voted in a tie for fourth in the Big Sky Conference Preseason Poll following their ninth consecutive conference tournament appearance last fall. With a 4-3-1 record, NAU finished fourth in the league in 2024.
NAU returns 17 players from last season's squad that compiled a 4-7-6 overall mark. The Lumberjacks also brought in 15 newcomers, including 11 freshmen and four transfers.
Micala Boex headlines the 2025 roster as a Big Sky Preseason All-Conference honoree. Boex is NAU's leading returning goal scorer with three goals to go along with three assists last season for a total of nine points. Boex (27) and
Avery Ott (35) both return as NAU's leaders in shots attempted.
Ott,
Erin O'Connor and
Olivia Bos each started all 17 matches in 2024 and along with
Ella Freebury and
Katie Willoughby, the Lumberjacks are well-stocked with upperclassmen in the midfield and back line.
In goal, a trio of newcomers in
Lexi Saveski,
Reece Reichwald and
Alondra Carbajal-Pettry vie for the starting position. All three first-year Lumberjacks saw action in NAU's two exhibitions last week versus Arizona and Arizona State. NAU only allowed a goal each to its two in-state Big 12 counterparts.
"I thought we got what we needed out of our exhibitions," Berrios said. "We got tested big-time by both Arizona and Arizona State. The Big Sky is such a tough conference from 1 through 9 and we learned a lot about how to battle from our two exhibitions. I was proud to see our team's grit and will to compete as we head into the start of the season."
NAU and Embry-Riddle will meet for the fifth time in program history, with the Lumberjacks winning all four previous meetings. The two programs last met in the regular season in 2011, resulting in a 3-1 Lumberjack victory in Flagstaff.
The Eagles are coming off a highly-successful season, winning both the 2024 Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC) regular season and tournament titles. Finishing last fall with a 15-3-3 record, Embry-Riddle was ranked No. 18 in the final NAIA Coaches Poll and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament.
Embry-Riddle outscored its opponents by a 65-12 margin last season and the Eagles return their leading goal scorer in Jamie Black, who ranked second in the GSAC with 14 goals. Black is one of two returning All-GSAC honorees along with Jamie Brandon, who also ranked in the top 10 of the conference with eight goals.
NAU and Nevada are squaring off for the first time since 2017 when the Lumberjacks shut out the Wolf Pack, 1-0, in Flagstaff. Nevada leads the all-time series 4-2 and the programs have split the only two meetings in Flagstaff with the Wolf Pack posting a road win at 7,000 feet in 2004.
Nevada, picked ninth in the preseason Mountain West coaches poll, posted four of its six overall victories in conference play last season to qualify for the Mountain West tournament. The Wolf Pack finished 2024 with a 6-13-2 record.
A trio of players were named to the Mountain West Watch List. Olivia Loomis is the Wolf Pack's leading returning goal scorer with five, while Maddie Benson started all 21 matches in the defensive backline. True freshman Naima Castro was one of two first-year players voted to the conference's 39-player watch list.
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