The last time the Idaho Vandals women’s soccer team was in Flagstaff, Arizona, they were lifting their first Big Sky championship tournament trophy. This time, the Vandals returned to Flagstaff looking for another win over Northern Arizona and get back in the win column.
Graduate outside back Alyssa Peters led the Vandals with a goal and two assists to help Idaho get an ever-important 3-2 road victory and remain in second place in the Big Sky conference.
In the 70th minute, with the Vandals leading 2-1 and the all-time Big Sky conference assist record up for grabs, Peters stepped up to a free kick at midfield.
Peters sent the ball to the box, and the ball found redshirt junior Sienna Gonzales. Gonzales, off a volley, fired the shot past stout senior goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran to give the Vandals the 3-1 lead. This gave Peters the assist record, passing Chansi Crompton with 28 career assists and her ninth on the season.
Peters had given the Vandals the lead just five minutes earlier. Peters stood over a free kick and sent in a high cross that got through traffic and squeezed by the goalkeeper to give the Vandals the lead and her second goal of the season.
The Vandals’ second-half display was much better than the first half. For the second consecutive game, the Vandals conceded a goal within the first 20 minutes.
In the 17th minute, the Lumberjacks, after a nice back-and-forth start, began to build momentum, and they earned a free kick a few yards from the midfield line.
Freshman defender Madisyn Marchesi sent a cross to the six-yard box. The Vandal defense could not clear it out and found the feet of sophomore defender Erin O’Connor.
Looking like a forward, O’Connor saw the ball and sliced it to the bottom corner, beating redshirt freshman Paula Flores to the corner and giving NAU the 1-0 lead.
After the early goal, the Vandals, still struggling to find an offensive rhythm, got a chance to equalize just five minutes after going down. In the 23rd minute, the lumberjacks committed a foul just in front of the Vandals bench, and Peters jogged over to take the free kick.
Peters sent a fantastic ball to the back post, where she connected with senior midfielder Annika Farley for the third game in a row. Farley calmy headed the cross across goal and into the bottom right corner to equalize the game for the Vandals.
The goal was Farley’s fourth on the season and third in three games. The rest of the first half was back-and-forth action, with both teams taking cracks at the goal, but no one would be successful.
The Vandals came out in the second half with a renewed determination and outplayed the Lumberjacks. Their strong second half performance put them in a commanding 3-1 lead with under five minutes to go. However, the pesky Lumberjacks would not go away.
In the 86th minute, NAU’s free kick went off the hand of a Vandal defender in the box, and it was awarded a penalty kick.
Sophomore forward Micala Boex stepped up to take the penalty. Boex’s first attempt was called off due to encroachment, so Boex had to retake her penalty. Boex struck the ball beautifully and placed it in the roof of the net to bring the Lumberjacks within one.
The Vandals managed to hold off NAU’s late rally and secure the win. This victory improved their record to 9-4-2 (3-1-1) and kept them in second place in the Big Sky. The loss sends the Lumberjacks to 2-6-4 (2-2) as NAU struggles to maintain its form over the last couple of seasons.
After completing a three-game road trip, the Vandals will be back at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome for their final two home games of the season. They will host the 2-9-5 (1-2-1) Weber State Wildcats on Friday, Oct 18, at 6 p.m. as the Vandals look to keep their unbeaten home streak alive.
You can reach Jayden Barfuss at [email protected]