OREM—Julianna Carter broke a 2-2 tie with a game-winning goal in the 86th minute to lift the Utah Valley women's soccer team to a 3-2 win over North Dakota State on Saturday evening at Clyde Field.
 
The win pushes UVU's record to 5-5-1 overall, while NDSU falls to 5-4-1. UVU wraps up non-league play with the win and now enters WAC play next Saturday at CSU Bakersfield.
 
 
"I'm super happy and proud of the girls," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. "We just kept trying to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net and obviously we did. Julie (Carter) has been hot for us and she scored another good goal. Their goalkeeper was very difficult to beat and she did a really nice job. It was probably harder than we wanted it to be but we grinded it out and got the result we wanted. We're really excited about how our non-conference play wrapped up and now we shift our focus to conference play."
 
North Dakota State was first to get on the scoreboard after Marian Taiwo fired a shot that deflected back off a UVU defender. Brookelyn Dew then settled the ball and fired it into the net to give the Bison to 1-0 advantage.
 
Utah Valley's Jenna Shepherd scored the equalizer in the 43rd minute after Breanna DeWaal send a free kick to the right side to Megan Sullivan, who sent the ball into the box. Shepherd was able to head it in past the NDSU keeper to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The Wolverines scored the go-ahead goal in the 47th minute after Heather Stainbrook headed the ball forward towards the box. Jocelyn Bybee then settled it in the box and took a shot that deflected off an NDSU defender. Stainbrook then circled around and fired the ball with her left foot up over the keeper for the score to give UVU a 2-1 lead.
 
North Dakota State tied things up in the 54th minute after Elyse Huber dribbled the ball towards the top of the box and fired a shot over the keeper and into the left side. The Huber goal tied the game at 2-2.
 
Carter scored the game winner in the 86th minute after Megan Sullivan sent the ball into the box from the right side where it was deflected. Bybee settled the ball and sent it back to Carter who fired it into the net for the score to secure UVU the 3-2 victory.
 
Utah Valley out-shot the Bison 19-12 and had a 12-5 advantage on goal. The Wolverines had nine corners to NDSU's three. DeWaal and Sadie Brockbank led the Wolverines with four shots apiece. DeWaal had a team-best three shots on frame. Stainbrook, Carter, and Bybee each had three shots.
 
Allie Jara played all 90 minutes in the box. She has one save.
 
Utah Valley now heads into Western Athletic Conference play as the Wolverines travel to play CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Oct. 6 in Bakersfield. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on the WAC Digital Network.