OREM—Utah Valley overcame an early deficit to come back and defeat in-state foe Dixie State 3-2 in the Old Hammer Rivalry on Saturday night at Clyde Field.
Utah Valley improves to 7-4-1 overall on the season and remains unbeaten in WAC play with a 2-0-1 record. Dixie State falls to 4-9-0 overall and 0-3-0 in league play.
"I thought Dixie came out and had a lot of energy and punched us in the face at the beginning of the game," said head coach
Chris Lemay. "I thought we reacted pretty well. We had possession of the ball for most of the first half, created some chances and found an equalizer. The first 25 minutes of the second half, we began playing at our tempo and scored two really good goals. Unfortunately, we became a little undisciplined in the last 15 minutes and all of a sudden it turned into a game again and then we had to scramble to secure the three points. At the end of the day, we didn't play our best soccer and still got the result that we needed."
Dixie State took an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute after McKinley Barney sent a corner kick into the box from the left side. Jill Bennett then fired a shot with her left foot into the back of the net to give the Trailblazers a 1-0 lead.
The Wolverines scored the equalizer in the 13th minute after
Sadie Brockbank took the ball towards the end line on the right side and sent a cross into the box.
Julianna Carter got a foot on the ball and sent it over the goal line near the far post for the score to tie the game 1-1. The goal is the first of the season for Carter and the 13th of her career.
Utah Valley took the lead in the 54th minute after a ball got sent into the box to Carter. Carter settled the ball and passed it over to Stainbrook in the middle of the box. Stainbrook fired the ball out of the reach of the DSU keeper to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead.
UVU's
Nicole Olanda sent a ball to
Breanna DeWaal on the left side of the field in the 66th minute. DeWaal then dribbled the ball down the left side of the field and sent a cross with her left foot into the middle of the box. Brockbank then sent the ball with her right foot past the keeper and into the net to extend UVU's lead to a 3-1 advantage.
Dixie State's Brynlee Roberts headed in a ball in the 84th minute to cut the UVU lead to a 3-2 advantage.
Utah Valley outshot Dixie State 20-4 on the night, including a 10-2 advantage on frame. Brockbank led UVU with a match-high seven shots, including three on goal. Stainbrook had four shots, all of which were on frame.
Utah Valley now heads out on the road for a pair of WAC matches at California Baptist and Seattle U on Oct. 8 and 10, respectively. UVU's next home match will be on Oct. 21 against Seattle U.
