The Lumberjacks soccer team fell 1-0 to Montana Friday night at Lumberjack Stadium.
The match had plenty of action and chances, but the Lumberjacks shots were not enough to score. The Lumberjacks out-shot Montana, 16-13, with five shots from senior forward Madison Montgomery and four shots from fifth year returner Kylie Kapustka.
Going into halftime, the teams were competing evenly, leading to a 0-0 score. The Lumberjacks showed impressive control on the back line, giving their offense chances, leading to eight shots on goal for Northern Arizona in the first half. Freshman goalkeeper Natalie Manzo stopped recorded five saves in the first half. Manzo faced some tough shots put up by Montana's forwards, making a few diving saves to keep the Lumberjacks in it early.
The Lumberjacks saw multiple chances for goals inn the second half, their best coming in the fiftieth minute of the match. Sam Larberg flew down the left side, sending a pass right to Montgomery in front of the right side of the goal, where Montana's keeper Camellia Xu made a tough diving save. Xu finished the night with eight total wins for the shutout.
The Grizzlies recorded their game-winner in the 56th minute of the match, after the team was awarded a free kick. Redshirt senior Caitlin Rogers took the kick, sending it right in front of the goal box, where it took a bounce and sailed past Manzo for the goal for Rogers's first goal of the season.
"The more chances you create, the more goals you can try and score, and we have to close that gap. We're creating chances but what type of chances are we creating. We'll look a little more specifically at that and see if we can improve some areas," Lumberjacks head coach Kylie Louw said.
Northern Arizona (2-8) will host the Northern Colorado Bears at Lumberjack Stadium on Sunday.
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