GREELEY, Colo. -- Two days after posting its season-high goal total, the Northern Arizona soccer team fell to Northern Colorado 5-0 in its final road game of the regular season on Sunday The five goals were the most the given up this season by the Lumberjacks, who fell to 5-7-4 and 3-2-2 in the conference heading into their final two Big Sky matches next weekend.
“We completely got outplayed today,” said NAU head coach Andre Luciano. “Northern Colorado is a really good team and they outplayed us on every side of the ball. I told the team we have to take care of our next two home games because that’s how you get into the conference tournament.”
The home team came out firing on its Senior Day and struck early in the 13th minute when Eryn Daniel converted on a cross into the box by Brittany Dunn. Dunn then provided the Bears with a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute when she put back a blocked shot into the net. Ahead 2-0 going into the second half, the Bears added three late goals -- two by Juliana Grover and another by Dunn -- in the 77th, 81st and 84th minutes to provide the margin.
The Bears outshot the Lumberjacks by a 19-4 margin and had a narrow 6-5 advantage in corner kicks. Junior Lauren Weaver, who had entered the game with five shutouts in her last six games, made seven saves on the day. Senior Georgia Foltz, sophomores Sarah Tarver and Kelly Whelan and freshman Cierra Gamble each had a shot for NAU.
The Lumberjacks remain at 11 points in the standings and will host Eastern Washington on Friday and Montana on Sunday in their final attempts to move into the top-four and qualify for the Big Sky tournament. Depending on the outcomes in the final two games in the conference on Sunday, the Lumberjacks could be within two points of the top-four. Montana currently is sitting in the top-four with 13 points while Eastern Washington has eight.
