UTAH VALLEY TAKES ON TOP-SEEDED SEATTLE U FOR WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
The Utah Valley University women's soccer team will play for the WAC Tournament title on Sunday against tournament host and four-time WAC Tournament champion Seattle U. Sunday's championship match will kickoff at 2 p.m. (MT)
Utah Valley (10-8-1) has won three of its last four matches and four of its last six. The Wolverines enter Sunday's championship match fresh off a 3-1 win over Kansas City in the semifinals on Friday night. Sunday will mark the third time that UVU has advanced to the WAC Tournament title game. The Wolverines have won the title in each of those championship matches (2015, 2017) against the Redhawks. The last time UVU played for the title was in 2017 with the two teams playing to a double-overtime tie. The Wolverines then claimed the title 3-1 on penalty kicks.
The Wolverines hold an all-time 7-4-1 record at the WAC Tournament since joining the league in 2013. Utah Valley went 1-1 at the tournament last year with a 2-1 win over Grand Canyon in the quarterfinals and a 3-0 loss to Kansas City in the semis.
Amber Tripp leads the Wolverines in scoring this season with seven goals, followed by
Julianna Carter with six.
Jocelyn Bybee has five goals, while
Breanna DeWaal has four.
Cassidy McCormick and
Jenna Shepherd each have three. Carter leads the Wolverines with 43 shots, including a team-best 27 shots on goal. Tripp leads UVU with five assists and a team-best 19 points.
Allie Jara leads the team in the box with an 11-8-1 record and 4.1 shutouts. She has 58 saves and owns a team-best 1.13 goals against average.
As a team, Utah Valley has netted 39 goals while allowing opponents 26. The Wolverines average 14.2 shots a match with a .518 shots on goal percentage. The Wolverines are holding opponents to a 1.30 goals per game average.
UVU AT THE WAC TOURNAMENT
he Wolverines hold an all-time 7-4-1 record at the WAC Tournament since joining the league in 2013. Utah Valley went 1-1 at the tournament last year with a 2-1 win over Grand Canyon in the quarterfinals and a 3-0 loss to Kansas City in the semis. UVU won its eighth WAC Tournament game and second semifinal game with its win over No. 3 Kansas City on Friday night.
All-Time UVU WAC Tournament Results
Nov. 8, 2013 First Round #2 Kansas City 2, #3 Utah Valley 0 (Las Cruces, N.M.)
Nov. 6, 2014 First Round #3 Utah Valley 2, #6 UTRGV 1 - ot (Seattle, Wash.)
Nov. 7, 2014 Semifinals #2 Kansas City 1, #3 Utah Valley 0 (Seattle, Wash.)
Nov. 6, 2015 Semifinals #2 Utah Valley 2, #3 Kansas City 0 (Bakersfield, Calif.)
Nov. 8, 2015 Championship #2 Utah Valley 2, #1 Seattle U 0 (Bakersfield, Calif.)
Nov. 3, 2016 First Round #4 Utah Valley 2, #5 New Mexico State 0 (Kansas City, Mo.)
Nov. 4, 2016 Semifinals #1 Seattle U 2, #4 Utah Valley 1 (Kansas City, Mo.)
Nov. 3, 2017 Semifinals #2 Utah Valley 1, #6 Grand Canyon 0 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Nov. 5, 2017 Championship #2 Utah Valley 1, #4 Seattle U 1 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Oct. 31, 2018 Quarterfinals #5 Utah Valley 2, #4 Grand Canyon 1 (Orem, Utah)
Nov. 2, 2018 Semifinals #1 Kansas City 3, #5 Utah Valley 0 (Orem, Utah)
Nov. 8, 2019 Semifinals #2 Utah Valley 3, #3 Kansas City 1 (Seattle, Wash.)
BROADCAST INFO
Sunday's match against Seattle U will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Andrew Harvey and Roland Vargish will be handling the play-by-play and color duties. Rachel Vigil will be on the sidelines for the broadcasts this week.
SIX WOLVERINES EARN ALL-WAC HONORS
Utah Valley was well represented at the Western Athletic Conference awards banquet in Seattle on Tuesday night as six Wolverines received WAC postseason honors. Utah Valley senior
Hannah Bruce and juniors
Amber Tripp and
Breanna DeWaal received first team all-WAC honors, while freshman
Jenna Shepherd was named to the second team. Shepherd, along with
Jocelyn Bybee and
Heather Stainbrook earned All-WAC freshman team honors.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Utah Valley sophomore forward
Julianna Carter ranks 18th in the entire nation in shot accuracy with a .628 mark. She also ranks 47th in the country with four game-winning goals.
Amber Tripp ranks 51st in shot accuracy at .575. As a team, Utah Valley ranks 54th in total goals (36), 57th in assists (30), 54th in shot accuracy (.506), 58th in shots on goal per game (7.21), and 61st in total points (102).
UTAH VALLEY HOLDS WAC'S SECOND-BEST RPI RANKING
Utah Valley holds the second-best RPI in the Western Athletic Conference at 127. The Wolverines trail Kansas City (119) and are followed by Seattle U (141), California Baptist (177), UTRGV (219), CSU Bakersfield (246), New Mexico State (260), Grand Canyon (284), and Chicago State (334).
ABOUT SEATTLE U
Seattle U enters Sunday's championship match against UVU with a 11-7-2 overall record and a 5-1-1 mark in WAC play. The team defeated UT Rio Grande Valley, 1-0, in Friday's semifinal match. The Redhawks have won seven of their last nine matches. SU is 7-3 at home this season. Those three losses have come to national contenders Washington State, USC, and Loyola Marymount. Seattle has not lost a WAC home match this season and wrapped up WAC play with a 4-0-0 at Championship Field. The Redhawks have had 15 different players score a goal this season. Senior forward Jessie Ray leads the team with eight goals, followed by junior forward Leahi Manthei with seven. Senior midfielder Holly Rothering has four goals and freshman midfielder Kelsey Crosby has three. Defensively, freshman keeper Madison Waguespack has led SU in the box, recording 81 saves and a .750 save percentage. She also has nine wins and five shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SEATTLE U
Utah Valley and Seattle U will meet on the pitch for the 20th time on Sunday. SU holds an all-time 15-2-2 series advantage over the Wolverines. Seattle U won last year's match in Orem, 2-0. In the past five matches, SU owns just a 3-1-1 advantage. UVU's last win over the Redhawks came on Sept. 30, 2017 in Orem with the Wolverines taking a 3-0 win. UVU's two wins over the Redhawks in the all-time series came in the WAC Tournament championship match of the 2015 tournament and in 2017's regular season match in Orem. UVU has never defeated Seattle on its home pitch. UVU holds an all-time 0-8 record in games played in Seattle.
