Utah Valley at Northern Arizona
Friday, Aug. 19 | 8 p.m. MT
Lumberjack Stadium | Flagstaff, Arizona
Live Video | Live Stats | UVU Match Notes
Utah Valley at #20 Arizona
Sunday, Aug. 21 | 7 p.m. MT
Mulcahy Stadium | Tucson, Arizona
Live Video | Live Stats | UVU Match Notes
OREM, Utah--The Utah Valley University women's soccer team opens its 2016 season in Arizona this weekend as the Wolverines travel to take on Northern Arizona Friday night and 20th-ranked Arizona on Sunday. Friday's match at NAU will kickoff at 8 p.m. MT, while Sunday's match at Arizona will begin at 7 p.m. MT.
"We're excited to get out and test ourselves," Utah Valley head coach
Brent Anderson said. "I've been really impressed with the fitness level of our players. They've obviously prepared really well in the offseason. We've been able to work alot tactically over the past two weeks. We're excited to get out on the pitch and play a match against someone other than ourselves."
The Wolverines return seven of their top goal scorers from its 2015 team that finished with a school-record 14 wins, won its first-ever WAC Tournament championship and made its first-ever appearance at the NCAA Tournament.
Sheridan Fox, who led the Wolverines with eight goals and ranked second on the team with 19 points last year, returns for her senior campaign. Defender
Kalli Suesue returns for her senior season after helping the UVU defense register an impressive eight shutouts. Suesue was named this year's WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
UVU is 5-6-2 all-time in season openers. The Wolverines dropped last season's opener at San Diego State, 6-0. Utah Valley's last victory in a season opener dates back to the 2011 season when the Wolverines defeated Portland State at home, 4-2. UVU has never opened the season with a win on the road. However, the team did pick up a 0-0 double-overtime draw in 2004's season opener at Northern Arizona.
ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA
Utah Valley and Northern Arizona meet on the pitch for the fifth time Friday night in Flagstaff. NAU owns an all-time 3-0-1 all-time advantage in the series. Northern Arizona returns 13 letterwinners, including four starters from last year's team that went 9-8-2 and placed seventh in the Big Sky. The 'Jacks were picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky preseason poll. NAU does return junior forward Adrian Nixt and senior forward Lindsay Doyle. The duo combined for eight goals and five assists last season. NAU did play one preseason match, falling 1-0 at Arizona.
ABOUT #20 ARIZONA
Utah Valley plays its first-ever match against the Wildcats on Sunday at Mulcahy Stadium. Arizona returns 20 players from last year's team that finished 14-6-2 and made a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Junior Gabi Stoian returns after leading the team in goals (6), assists (8), points (20) and shots (59) in 2015. Stoian earned All-Pac-12 first team honors for her play last season. Arizona is ranked No. 20 in the NSCAA preseason poll and No. 18 in the TopDrawerSoccer preseason poll. The Cats were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 preseason poll. Arizona played on preseason match last week, defeating Northern Arizona, 1-0. The Wildcats open their season at Pepperdine on Aug. 19 before returning home to host Utah Valley on Sunday.
WOLVERINES SELECTED AS CO-FAVORITES TO WIN WAC TITLE, SUESUE NAMED WAC PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Utah Valley was selected as a co-favorite to win the 2016 Western Athletic Conference title as determined by a vote of the league's eight head coaches. UVU senior defender
Kalli Suesue was tabbed the WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the WAC coaches. Utah Valley and Seattle U each received four first-place votes and three second-place votes for 46 total points.
SU downed UVU 1-0 in last year's final conference match to claim the WAC's regular season crown. . The Wolverines then defeated Seattle U 2-0 in the WAC Tournament championship to claim its first-ever WAC Tournament title and trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Suesue was selected as the league's preseason defensive player of the year after helping the Wolverines to an impressive eight shutouts last season. She also helped the UVU defense to a 1.17 goals allowed average. Suesue is the third straight Wolverine to receive WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Suesue was also named to the Preseason All-WAC Team along with senior midfielder
Taylor Kirk. Kirk scored six goals and recorded six assists for 18 points last season. She registered 20 shots, including 14 on goal. She was named to last season's WAC All-Tournament team after scoring the game-winning goal in the championship win over Seattle U.
UVU WINS FIRST-EVER WAC TITLE IN 2015
Taylor Kirk and
Sara Callister each scored goals to lead the Utah Valley University women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over top-seeded Seattle U on Nov. 8, 2015 to claim the team's first-ever WAC Tournament title.
The win over the Redhawks snaps Seattle U's nation-leading 16 match unbeaten streak and earned Utah Valley (14-6-1) the WAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The win also marked head coach
Brent Anderson's 100th overall victory.
Kirk scored the unassisted game winner in the 19th minute after she stole the ball from a Seattle U defender, dribbled into the box, and fired a shot into the back of the net. Utah Valley scored again in the 69th minute as Kirk sent a ball down the right side to a streaking Callister, who dribbled once and connected on a shot just out of the reach of the SU keeper for the score.
ANDERSON REACHES 100-WINS MARK
Utah Valley head coach
Brent Anderson reached win number 100 in style on Nov. 8, 2015. The 11th-year head coach picked up win number 100 with a 2-0 win over Seattle U in the championship match of last season's WAC Tournament. Anderson holds a 100-93-11 career record. He holds an impressive 58-15-3 conference mark in his 10 years at UVU, and is 21-9-2 in conference play since joining the WAC.
