LAS CRUCES, N.M.—
Nicole Ray scored the game winner in the 19th minute and
Heather Stainbrook added a goal in the 47th minute to lead Utah Valley to a 2-0 shutout road win over New Mexico State on Thursday night at the NM State Soccer Athletics Complex.
The 2-0 clean sheet is the fourth-straight shutout victory for the Wolverines who improve to 11-5-2 overall and 6-1-2 in WAC play. The Wolverine defense now owns a WAC-best 10 shutouts this season.
"We're certainly pleased with the performance of our team tonight," said Utah Valley head coach
Chris Lemay. "We couldn't be happier to pick up our 10th shutout of the season. It just shows how well we defend and the impact that Brooklyn (Nielsen) has in the box for us. We're really excited for Saturday night and have put ourselves in a position to earn the No. 1 seed and win a back-to-back WAC regular season championship."
Stainbrook sent the ball down the right side of the field to
Julianna Carter who sent a cross into the box.
Amber Tripp then headed the cross down to Ray who then headed it down and into the back of the net to give Utah Valley a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.
The Wolverines scored a quick goal in the second half after
Breanna DeWaal threw in a ball from the right side to Carter toward the right side of the box by the goal line. Carter was able to get a foot on it before it went out of bounds and sent a cross into the front of the goal. NM State's keeper blocked it out, but Stainbrook was there to clean it up and fired a shot with her left foot into the goal to give UVU a 2-0 advantage in the 47th minute.
Utah Valley outshot NM State 15-5 on the night, including a 7-3 advantage on goal. The Wolverines had three corner kicks to NMSU's two. Stainbrook and DeWaal led UVU with three shots apiece. Ray had two shots, while Carter, Tripp,
Grace Beeston,
London Miller,
Katie Haskins,
Kathryn Wynn, and
Ashley Hughes each had one shot.
Brooklyn Nielsen picked up the win in the box with three saves and a clean sheet.
Utah Valley will wrap up WAC regular season play at Grand Canyon on Saturday night with the WAC west division title on the line. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
UVU has already clinched one of the top two seeds at next week's WAC Tournament in Abilene, Texas. The Wolverines could earn the No. 1 seed and a first round bye with a win at GCU on Saturday night.
