Utah Valley vs. Grand Canyon
Monday, Sept. 26  |  1:00 p.m. MST
Clyde Field  |   Orem, Utah
Live Video  |  Live Stats   |   UVU Match Notes   |   GCU Match Notes

OREM--The Utah Valley women's soccer team looks to keep its unbeaten home streak alive as the Wolverines host WAC rival Grand Canyon in a non-conference match on Monday at 1 p.m., at Clyde Field.

The Wolverines ride a 13-match unbeaten streak into Clyde Field on Monday afternoon where the team is 2-0-1 this year. UVU's last loss at Clyde Field was a 2-0 setback to Seattle U on Nov. 1, 2014. The team holds an all-time  64-32-10 record on the Clyde Field pitch.

Utah Valley enters Friday's matchup against Grand Canyon with a 5-3-1 overall record. The Wolverines went 1-0-1 last week as the team registered its first-ever tie against in-state rival Utah before picking up a 5-1 road win at Idaho State. Prior to the tie against the Utes, Utah Valley had dropped all six of its matches to Utah. Freshman goalkeeper Brooklyn Nielsen helped the Wolverines secure the tie against Utah as she made a leaping save with under a minute to play. In the win at Idaho State on Sunday, five different UVU players each registered a goal. Tied 1-1 in the second half, Utah Valley scored four goals in just 17 minutes to secure the victory. Sydney Fitzpatrick, Breanna DeWaal, Sarah Cipperley, and Leesa Stowe each recorded their first goals of the season in the win.
 
Alexis Peterson leads the Wolverines with four goals and eight points on the year. Abby Jameson owns two goals, while nine other Wolverines have each scored at least one goal this season. Freshman Breanna DeWaal leads the Wolverines with 33 shots, including a team-best 12 shots on goal. Breanna Sara Callister ranks second with 15 shots, including seven on goal. Nielsen leads the team in the box with a 3-1-1 record. She has 30 saves and owns a .882 save percentage on the season. As a team, Utah Valley has netted 15 goals while allowing opponents just 10. The Wolverines average 14.6 shots a match with a .389 shots on goal percentage.

Monday's match against the 'Lopes will begin at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on WolverineGreen.com.
 
ABOUT GRAND CANYON
Grand Canyon brings a 3-6-0 record to Clyde Field on Monday afternoon. The Antelopes head into Monday's match fresh off a 3-1 loss at home to Oklahoma last week. The 'Lopes are still seeking their first road win of the season as all three of the team's wins have come at home this season. Grand Canyon has tallied 14 goals this season while also allowing 14 goals. Junior forward Milla Benedetti leads the 'Lopes with four goals this season. She scored the lone goal for GCU in the setback to Oklahoma last week. Benedetti also has a team-high two assists and a team-high 10 points. Junior keeper Blakely Fraasch leads the team in the box with 24 saves. Grand Canyon is coached by Derek Leader who is in his first season with the team.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GRAND CANYON
Utah Valley and Grand Canyon meet on the pitch for the seventh time on Monday afternoon with Wolverines holding a 4-2-0 all-time series advantage. Utah Valley and Grand Canyon meet on the Clyde Field pitch for just the fourth time in the two team's history. UVU owns a 2-1 advantage in matches played on the Clyde Field pitch. The two teams split a two-match series last season with each team winning on its home field.

HOME SWEET CLYDE FIELD - UNBEATEN STREAK AT 13 MATCHES
Utah Valley has enjoyed an impressive 19-2-4 at Clyde Field over the past three seasons. The Wolverines hold an all-time 64-32-10 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. The team extended its Clyde Field unbeaten streak to 13 matches with its 0-0 tie against Utah on Sept. 16. The Wolverines ranked 24th (1,074 per game) nationally in attendance at Clyde Field last season. UVU already ranks ninth in the nation in attendance after welcoming an average of 1,725 fans through the gates though three home matches this year.

NIELSEN EARNS SECOND WAC WEEKLY HONOR OF THE SEASON
Utah Valley's Brooklyn Nielsen was named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week for her play Sept. 12-18. The honor marks the second time this season that Nielsen has earned the award. Nielsen helped the Wolverines to a 1-0-1 record in goal last week. The first-year keeper helped UVU pick up its first-ever shutout against in-state rival Utah on Friday night at Clyde Field, helping the Wolverines extend their unbeaten home streak to 13 matches. In the 0-0 draw against the Utes, Nielsen tallied five saves on seven Utah shots and made a key save in the final minute of the second overtime to help UVU secure the clean sheet. She also helped UVU to a 5-1 win at Idaho State on Sunday afternoon, making four saves in the victory. Overall on the week, Nielsen went 1-0-1 in the box with nine saves, a .900 save percentage, and 0.45 goals against average.

UVU RANKED NO. 8 IN NSCAA TOP-10 WEST REGION POLL
Utah Valley entered the NSCAA West Regional Top-10 rankings three weeks ago at No. 10. The Wolverines moved up to the No. 8 spot this week after being ranked No. 9 last week.

UTAH VALLEY DEBUTS AT 82 ON FIRST NCAA RPI LIST OF THE SEASON
The first RPI list of the season was released by the NCAA this past week and the Wolverines are ranked No. 82. The team is the highest-ranked team in the WAC at No. 82, followed by Seattle U (145), Grand Canyon (195), UMKC (198), CSU Bakersfield (200), New Mexico State (300), UTRGV (307) and Chicago State (332). UVU's best RPI win is a victory over No. 8 Oklahoma in Norman.

UVU IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
UVU freshman goalkeeper Brooklyn Nielsen holds the highest individual national ranking on the team as she ranks 17th nationally in save percentage at .882. She also ranks 37th with a .587 goals against average. Senior defender Abby Jameson ranks 32nd in the country with two yellow cards. She also ranks 57th nationally with two game-winning goals.

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 fourth all time with six game-winning goals, just two away from the all-time best mark of eight. She ranks 10 all-time in points with 33 and also ranks 10th in careers assists with nine.

UVU REGISTERS FIRST-EVER TIE AGAINST UTAH, DEFEATS IDAHO STATE ON THE ROAD
Utah Valley went 1-0-1 last week with a 0-0 tie at home against in-state rival Utah and a 5-1 road win at Idaho State. UVU had lost each of the team's previous six matchups prior to last week's tie against the Utes. Brooklyn Nielsen was impressive in the box with five saves, including a leaping save in the final minute of the second and final overtime to secure the clean sheet. The Wolverines then turned up the offense with 5 goals in a 5-1 road win at Idaho State. Sydney Fitzpatrick, Breanna DeWaal, Sarah Cipperley, Leesa Stowe and Alexis Peterson each registered goals in the win over the Bengals.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah Valley plays its final non-conference match of the season on Oct. 1 at Seattle U. The Wolverines will play Seattle U on Oct. 1 in a non-conference match before facing the Redhawks on Oct. 28 in a WAC conference match.

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.

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 105-95-13 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.