Southern Utah at Utah Valley
Friday, Aug. 26  |  5 p.m. MT
Clyde Field   |   Orem, Utah
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OREM, Utah--The Utah Valley University women's soccer team will play its 2016 home opener on Friday night against in-state rival Southern Utah. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. MT at Clyde Field.

"We're excited to get out and play in front of our own fans," Utah Valley head coach Brent Anderson said. "It's fun to have an in-state team at Clyde Field for our home opener but we'll have to manage the emotion of the match. Both teams will be fired up. If we manage the emotion right, play our game and move the ball around, which we do really well on the Clyde Field pitch, I believe we will have a positive result."

Utah Valley opened its season last week with a pair of matches in Arizona. The Wolverines defeated Northern Arizona 4-1 in the team's season opener before dropping a 5-1 decision at 20th-ranked Arizona. Four different players scored a goal in the win over NAU, including Tori Smith, Sara Callister, Breanna McCarter and Alexis Peterson. Peterson also scored UVU's lone goal in the setback at Arizona.

UVU is 6-6-1 all-time in home openers. The Wolverines defeated Central Arkansas 2-0 in last season's Clyde Field opener. The Wolverines have played Southern Utah  in both its 2007 and 2010 home openers, tying the T-Birds (1-1) in 2007 and defeating SUU (2-0) in 2010. UVU has won four of its last six home openers, including two straight with the win over Central Arkansas in 2015 and a 2-1 win against Baylor in 2014.

Friday's match will kickoff at 5 p.m. The game will be the first match of a double-header with the UVU men, which will host Washington at 7:30 p.m.

ABOUT SOUTHERN UTAH
Southern Utah heads into Friday's match with a 0-1-0 record. The Thunderbirds dropped a 2-1 decision at Florida Atlantic on Friday, Aug. 19 in Boca Raton, Florida. Junior forward Ally Thimsen scored SUU's lone goal of the match with senior Shelby Green credited with the assist. SUU also played an exhibition match against Utah State that finished in a 1-1 draw. The Thunderbirds were picked ninth in the 11-team Big Sky Conference preseason coaches poll. SUU returns seven starters 23 letterwinners from a team that went 8-8-2 in 2015 and finished eighth in the Big Sky with a 3-5-2 mark. SUU also returns three of its top four goal scorers from last season, including Thimsen who returns for her junior campaign after leading SUU with seven goals last year.

LOOKING AHEAD
After its match against Southern Utah on Friday, Utah Valley will travel on Saturday to Norman, Oklahoma where the Wolverines will take on Oklahoma on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 12 p.m. MT.  The match will mark the second time that UVU has faced an opponent from the Big 12. UVU defeated Big 12 foe Baylor 2-1 in 2014. Sunday's match against Oklahoma will be broadcast live on Fox College Sports Central and Fox Sports Oklahoma.

HOME SWEET CLYDE FIELD - UNBEATEN STREAK AT 10 MATCHES
Utah Valley has enjoyed an impressive 17-2-3 at Clyde Field over the past two seasons. The Wolverines hold an all-time 62-32-9 mark at home since UVU became a Division I member in 2003. UVU went unbeaten at home last season with a 9-0-1 record. UVU will look to extend its unbeaten streak at home to 11 matches against SUU on Friday night.

KIRK ENTERS ALL-TIME UVU CAREER CHARTS
Senior forward Taylor Kirk ranks in the top-10 in three different all-time UVU career statistical rankings. Kirk is tied for seventh all time with five game-winning goals, just three away from the all-time best mark of eight. She ranks 10 all-time in points with 31 and also ranks 10th in careers assists with nine.

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 while departing senior Jessica Duffin secured the shutout in goal to lead the Utah Valley University women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over top-seeded Seattle U on Sunday, 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 now holds a 101-93-12 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.