SEATTLE—Seattle U found the back of the net with just 18 seconds remaining in the final overtime period to defeat Utah Valley, 3-2, and claim the 2019 WAC regular season title on Saturday night at Championship Field in the Emerald City.
 
Despite the setback, Utah Valley (10-8-1, 5-3-0) has secured the No. 2 seed at next week's WAC Tournament in Seattle. With the No. 2 seed, the Wolverines have earned a first-round bye and automatically advance to Friday's semifinal to take on the winner of Wednesday's first-round match between No. 3 Kansas City and No. 6 Grand Canyon.
 
"We knew that we had to win this match to get a piece of the WAC regular season trophy," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. "We played with the mindset that we were a goal down and we played everyone forward and let the chips fall where they may and what happened, happened. You have to give Seattle U a lot of credit. They went down in the match on two occasions and came back both times. They were very disciplined. There were spells tonight where we were very good but there were moments where we were undisciplined."
 
Breanna DeWaal put the Wolverines on the scoreboard as she converted on a penalty kick in the 20th minute to give UVU an early 1-0 advantage. The score is DeWaal's fourth goal of the season and her third in UVU's last three matches.
 
Seattle U answered back with the equalizer in the 61st minute as Jessie Ray sent a ball from midfield to a streaking Leahi Manthei who was able to get past UVU's Allie Jara at the top of the box. Manthei then found the back of the net with her left foot to tie the game 1-1.
 
Utah Valley's Amber Tripp put the Wolverines ahead in the 67th minute as she sent a long shot in from the right side. The ball deflected off the SU keeper and into the back of the net for the score. Tripp's team-leading seventh goal of the season gave the Wolverines a 2-1 advantage.
 
Seattle U tied things up with just 2:45 seconds to play as there was a scrum in the box. UVU attempted to clear the ball out of the box but it was deflected back into the net by Mikaela Morey to tie the game at 2-2..
 
Paige Malm put in the game winner in the 110th minute to lift the Redhawks to the win with just 18 seconds remaining on the clock.
 
Utah Valley and Seattle U combined for 47 shots, including 19 on goal. The Wolverines had 21 shots with nine on frame. UVU had seven corner kicks to SU's three. Julianna Carter led the Wolverines with a match-high six shots, including two on goal. DeWaal had five shots with a team-high three on frame. Heather Stainbrook, Madeline Moore, Tripp, and Hanna Bruce each had two shots.
 
Defensively, Allie Jara tallied a season-high seven saves in the box. She made a pair of spectacular stops in overtime to fend off a pair of Seattle U golden goal opportunities.
 
Utah Valley will remain in Seattle to prep for the upcoming WAC Tournament. The Wolverines have earned a first-round bye and will not play until Friday at 8 p.m. (MT) against the winner of Wednesday's first round match between No. 3 Kansas City and No. 6 Grand Canyon. The winner of UVU's match on Friday will advance to Sunday's WAC Tournament title game. All games at the WAC Tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
"Over the course of the regular season we have proven that we are as good as anyone in this league," Lemay said. "We have a lot of belief that we can go win two games next weekend and win the tournament. Right now, we will take tomorrow off and come back Monday with all our focus on what is in front of us and not what is behind us."