ST. GEORGE, Utah (October 18, 2026) – Valerie Llamas logged the first brace of her career to power the Northern Arizona soccer team 2-0 over Utah Tech on Sunday afternoon at Greater Zion Stadium.

Northern Arizona (7-4-3, 3-0-1 Big Sky) extends its unbeaten streak to a league-best seven matches and moves into a tie for second in the standings with Utah Tech (7-6-2, 3-2-1 Big Sky). The Lumberjacks also surpass their win total from 2025, with five matches remaining in the regular season.

Llamas' pair of goals are her first of 2026, and mark back-to-back games finding the back of the net, as she converted NAU's penalty equalizer on Thursday against Southern Utah. She joins Micala Boex as Lumberjacks with multi-goal games on the year, who provided the assist on her first score.

Lexi Saveski made the start in goal and played all 90 minutes, making five saves to record her seventh shutout on the year. NAU outshot Utah Tech, 12-11, but was beat on the corner kick battle, 7-2.

Most of the action in the first half surrounded a pair of reviews for each side for a potential penalty kick. One for a handball on NAU, and a foul inside the box on UTU right before the period ended that were both negated. Shots were even in the first 45 as each team took five, with the hosts managing two shots on target.

NAU carried momentum from knocking on the door into the second stanza, with Boex taking a pair of shots in the 50th and 52nd minutes. The 'Jacks continued to zero in on offense while also working on getting shots on target and found success as Llamas' first test of the Trailblazer keeper broke the scoreless tie in the 58th minute.

The backline weathered a pair of corner kicks from Utah Tech shortly after, as it searched for an equalizer. Elliotte Kortus almost added to the score with a shot in the 70th minute that went just wide, with Maya Wells taking another good look that missed to the left in the 75th minute.

A free kick in the 76th minute set up Llamas for her second score, as she found space after the initial first touch by a defender left a window open enough for a shot. NAU did not allow many quality chances for Utah Tech to even break into the scoring column the rest of the way, with shots either being blocked or punched into the air by Saveski.

With her assist today, Micala Boex needs just one more helper to rank tied for 10th in career assists at NAU, now owning 11. The forward does move into a tie for ninth all-time in career points with Sierra Cristiano (45).

The Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff and will host Montana for Senior Night at Lumberjack Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 22. Kickoff with the Griz is set for 7 p.m. MST and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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