MOSCOW, Idaho - The Vandals are on the road to play Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Sunday at 12 p.m. in the battle of the statistically best offensive and defensive teams in the Big Sky. Northern Arizona has a Big Sky high 21 goals while Idaho has allowed just seven goals in 12 games. The Vandals lead the nation in shutouts and haven't allowed a goal since August 21. The game is the final regular-season road game for Idaho as their final three games are at home in the Kibbie Dome.
ABOUT IDAHO: The Vandals sit atop the Big Sky at 9-1-2 overall and 4-0 in Conference play. Defense has been the key. The Vandals have not allowed a goal since August 21 at San Diego State and have set the Idaho record for shutouts in the season and tied the Big Sky record.
Kira Witte leads the nation in shutouts with 11. The true freshman has recorded shutouts in all but one game this season.
Maddy Lasher now leads the Vandals in goals (3) and assists (4).
ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA: NAU is balanced with solid efforts on the offensive and defensive side. The Jacks are 3-5-4 and 2-1 in Big Sky action. NAU leads the Big Sky in goals, but 11 of those goals came in an 11-0 win over NAIA Ottawa (AZ). Hometown hero Maddie Shafer leads NAU with four goals and four assists on the year. Trinity Corcoran is in goal for the Lumberjacks. She is 3-2-3 in eight games as the goalkeeper, but has allowed just five goals since taking over the starting duties.
LEADING THE NATION: Kira Witte sits alone atop the standings as the only goalkeeper in the nation with 11 shutouts this season. Witte, a freshman has shutout every opponent except San Diego State and she currently has a 10-match shutout streak. She broke the single-season Idaho shutout record and has climbed to a tie for third on the career shutout mark in just 12 career games. She is also tied for the Big Sky Conference single-season shutout record. She had a career-best 10 saves against Weber State.
DEFENSE: While Witte has been stellar in her first 12 games as a Vandal, the Idaho back line and midfielders have also been outstanding. Idaho has allowed the fewest goals in the season of any Big Sky team, but the Vandals are just seventh for saves, meaning that the defense has limited scoring chances of other teams.
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND: Ten Vandal players have scored goals so far this season.
Maddy Lasher has three goals so far this season,
Jadyn Hanks and
Savannah Foster have two while
Kylie Hummel,
Jayd Sprague,
Makenzie Burks, Ariel Lofton,
Makenzie Burks,
Margo Schoesler and
Hannah Alfaro have a goal each.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: The Vandals swept Big Sky Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Margo Schoesler scored PK goal in the final minutes against Montana and set up the game-winner against Northern Colorado with a shot off of the post that was then scored by
Annika Farley.
Cassidy Elicker, the Vandals leader in minutes among field players was an anchor on the backline that allowed just five shots on goal in two games last weekend.
CLEVENGER ON THE RECORD BOOKS: The Vandals won their 37th game of the Clevenger era last Friday against Montana. The win moved Clevenger past Derek Pittman for the second spot on the all-time wins list for Idaho coaches. At 54.3% winning percentage, Clevenger has the best winning percentage of any Idaho coach.
BIG SKY STANDINGS: Idaho is the only undefeated, untied team in the Big Sky and only Portland State has yet to suffer a loss so far. While Idaho has a solid start, the Big Sky standings are still far from being determined.
