Utah Valley (0-0-0) at Hawaii (0-0-0)
Friday, Aug. 18  |  11 p.m. MT
Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium  |  Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawaii
Live Stats  |  UVU Match Notes  |  UH Match Notes

Utah Valley (0-0-0) vs. Houston Baptist (0-0-0)
Sunday, Aug. 20  |  6:30 p.m. MT
Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium  |  Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawaii
Live Stats  |  UVU Match Notes  |  HBU Match Notes

UTAH VALLEY OPENS 2017 SEASON IN HAWAII
The Utah Valley University women's soccer team will open the 2017 season this week at the OHANA Outrigger Shootout in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Wolverines will open the season at Hawaii on Friday before playing Houston Baptist.

Utah Valley returns 19 letter winners and seven starters from its 2016 squad, including first team All-WAC honoree Breanna DeWaal. DeWaal is back for her sophomore campaign after leading the Wolverines and the WAC with 67 shots last year.  She also led UVU with 23 shots on goal last season and ranked second on the team in both goals scored (4) and assists (4).
 
Alexis Peterson, who led the Wolverines with five goals last year, returns for her senior season. She also led the team with a .737 shots on goal percentage. In all, UVU returns nearly 70 percent of its scoring from last season as the Wolverines return 10 players who accounted for 23 of UVU's 34 goals in 2016.
 
The Wolverines also welcome back Brooklyn Nielsen in goal for her sophomore season. Nielsen played in 16 matches for UVU in the box last season, compiling a 7-4-2 record with five shutouts, 49 saves and a 1.02 goals allowed average. Her five shutouts led the WAC last season.
Utah Valley welcomes eight newcomers to this year's squad, including Florida State transfer Doriana Moul. Moul, a sophomore midfielder, played in nine games and made two starts for the Seminoles last season before being sideline by injury. She recorded three shots, including one on goal for the former national champions. The Wolverines also welcome in a signing class of six freshmen to the squad.

Friday's match at Hawaii will kickoff at 11 p.m. MT. Sunday's match will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. MT.

ABOUT HAWAII
Hawai'i opens its 2017 schedule against the Wolverines on Friday. The team picked up a 3-0 win over Houston Baptist in exhibition play on Aug. 14, picking up goals from sophomore Lillie French, redshirt-sophomore Kiri Dale and senior Paige Okazaki. Freshman Izzy Deutsch had two assists while junior goalkeeper Alexis Mata made four saves in the shutout win. The 'Bows open their home slate after going an impressive 7-1-2 at home last year.  The Rainbow Wahine are coming off their best season since 2007, going 9-6-2 in 2016. Hawai'i returns five of its top six point-scorers from 2016, including points leader Raisa Strom-Okimoto who tallied 20 points on six goals and eight assists last season. Since joining the Big West in 2012, Hawai'i is still looking to qualify for its first Big West Conference touranemt.

SERIES HISTORY VS. HAWAII
Utah Valley and Hawaii meet on the pitch for just the third time on Friday evening. UH holds an all-time 3-0-0 record against the Wolverines, including a 2-0-0 all-time mark against UVU in Honolulu. The 'Bows defeated UVU 1-0 in the two team's lone match in Orem in 2015.

All-Time Results vs. Hawaii (UVU leads series 3-0-0)
Sept. 13, 2003    Hawaii def. Utah Valley, 5-2    Waipahu, Oahu
Oct. 17, 2005    Hawaii def. Utah Valley, 1-0    Orem, Utah
Aug. 26, 2012    Hawaii def. Utah Valley, 2-1 (2OT)    Waipahu, Oahu

ABOUT HOUSTON BAPTIST
Houston Baptist opens its 2017 slate against Fairfield on Friday in the OHANA Outriggers Shootout in Hawaii. The team will then take on the Wolverines on Sunday. The Huskies played a pair of exhibition matches, drawing with St. Thomas, 2-2, before falling to Hawaii, 3-0. The Huskies welcome back seven starters and 14 letterwinners from its 2016 team that went 10-11-1 and won the Southland Tournament. The win at the Southland Tournament earned the team its second-ever NCAA bid.

SERIES HISTORY VS. HOUSTON BAPTIST
Utah Valley and Houston Baptist meet on the pitch for the 11th time on Sunday night. UVU holds an all-time 6-3-1 advantage over the Huskies. The two teams match up on a neutral site for the fourth time with UVU holding an all-time 2-1-0 neutral site advantage.

All-Time Results vs. Houston Baptist (UVU leads series 6-3-1)
Oct. 16, 2009    Utah Valley ties Houston Baptist, 1-1 (2OT)    Houston, Texas
Oct. 26, 2009    Utah Valley def. Houston Baptist, 3-2    Orem, Utah
Nov. 9, 2009    Utah Valley def. Houston Baptist, 1-0    Newark, NJ
Oct. 8, 2010    Utah Valley def. Houston Baptist, 4-0    Orem, Utah
Oct. 30, 2010    Houston Baptist def. Utah Valley, 1-0    Houston, Texas
Nov. 6, 2010    Houston Baptist def. Utah Valley, 1-0 (2OT)    Houston, Texas
Oct. 15, 2011    Utah Valley def. Houston Baptist, 3-1    Orem, Utah
Nov. 7, 2011    Utah Valley def. Houston Baptist, 2-1 (2OT)    Newark, NJ
Oct. 20, 2012    Utah Valley def. Houston Baptist, 2-0    Houston, Texas
Sept. 7, 2013    Houston Baptist def. Utah Valley, 1-0    Missoula, Montana

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah Valley will be on the road for nearly a month before opening its home slate at Clyde Field on Sept. 8 against Wyoming. UVU will play six road matches before making its Clyde Field debut. Following its two matches in Hawaii, Utah Valley will travel to play UNLV and CSUN on Aug. 25 and 27, respectively.

DEWAAL NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM, WOLVERINES PICKED FOURTH IN WAC PRESEASON POLL
The Utah Valley University women's soccer team was selected to finish in a tie for fourth in the 2017 Western Athletic Conference Preseason Poll while sophomore midfielder Breanna DeWaal was named to the WAC Preseason All-WAC team. The conference preseason poll and preseason awards were determined by the league's head coaches and announced Wednesday by the league.

After finishing fifth in the WAC standings last season with a 3-3-1 league record, UVU was projected to finish in a tie for fourth this year after receiving 32 points. The Seattle U Redhawks were picked to repeat as champions after winning both the WAC regular season and tournament titles in 2016. SU received seven first place votes for a total of 49 points. Kansas City was second in the poll with 36 points and one first place vote, while Grand Canyon was picked third with 34 points.
 
Utah Valley and CSU Bakersfield tied for the fourth spot with 32 points apiece, while UT Rio Grande Valley was sixth with 18 points. New Mexico State (15) and Chicago State (8) rounded out the poll in seventh and eighth, respectively.
 
DeWaal was named to the preseason all-WAC team after leading both the Wolverines and the WAC with 67 shots during her freshman season last year. She also led UVU with 23 shots on goal and ranked second on the team in both goals scored (4) and assists (4). DeWaal was the lone freshman named to the 2016 All-WAC first team. She was one of 11 WAC players to earn preseason all-WAC honors.

"It's well deserved," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. "She's a huge part of our program and orchestrates our attack. She's a two-sided player as she's a threat with her pass and her shot."
 
CSU Bakersfield's Sabrina Delgado was named the WAC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Seattle U's Stephanie Spiekerman earned Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors.