OREM, Utah – No. 16/21 Utah Valley University ran its shutout streak to five and won its fifth straight contest, 1-0, over Houston Baptist on Friday night at Clyde Field. Donnett Sackie earned the game-winner, scoring his first goal of the season in the 80th minute to break the scoreless tie.
 
The Wolverines (12-3-0, 5-1-0) now sit alone in the national lead with 10 shutouts on the season, extending the single-season school record. Four other teams with nine shutouts are in action on Saturday: Denver, Loyola Chicago, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
 
"I could not be more proud of this group. We've always lived by the mentality of defend first and attack second," said UVU head coach Greg Maas. "For us to have five clean sheets in a row – and to lead the nation with 10 -- is remarkable and something we take tremendous pride in."
 
It was the fifth clean sheet in as many career starts for goalkeeper Mitch Jensen, who has logged 540 minutes without allowing a goal. UVU hasn't given up a goal since the first half of the WAC opener at Seattle U on Sept. 30.
 
Sackie's goal came on assists from Paul Hoffmeister and Joe Barakat. Barakat took a pass from Aaron Meyer on a free kick and served it into the box from distance where Hoffmeister got his head on it and Sackie directed it with his right foot into the left side netting from just outside the six.
 
The goal came following a flurry of second-half shots by UVU -- and saves by Huskies (4-9-1, 2-5-0) goalkeeper Chance Pope. The Wolverines got off a new school record 33 shots, including 21 in the second half alone. Of those, 12 came on goal with Pope recording 10 saves and HBU getting credit for a team save.
 
By contrast the Huskies had just two shots after halftime – 10 total – with Jensen getting two saves on both Houston Baptist shots on goal.
 
"I knew it was going to come. I was just hoping it would have been earlier than it did," Maas said of the goal. "At halftime we addressed keeping the ball in the opponent's final third and our speed of play and movement off the ball created several good chances to score."
 
The Wolverines have a quick turnaround on the road with a Sunday contest at San José State at noon PT/1 p.m. MT. The Spartans have been off since last Sunday when they played host to Incarnate Word.
 
"Split weekends are never easy — especially when it's San José State's only match of the weekend. But this is a very deep and resilient team, and we are ready for the opportunity in front of us," Maas said.
 
UVU returns home next week for its final two regular season home matches. The Wolverines host Grand Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 27 and UNLV on Saturday, Oct. 29. Both matches start at 7 p.m. MT. Utah Valley is the host of the 2016 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament at Clyde Field. The top six teams will qualify for tournament, which begins Nov. 10 at Clyde Field.