UVU TAKES NO. 2 SEED INTO WAC TOURNAMENT, FACES #3 SAM HOUSTON IN FIRST ROUND ON WEDNESDAY
Utah Valley has earned the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 Sam Houston from the Southwest division of the league on Wednesday night at Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, Texas. The game will kickoff at 6 p.m. (MT) and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Wolverines wrapped up regular season play on Saturday with a 6-2 setback on the road at WAC West division champion Grand Canyon, snapping UVU's five-match unbeaten streak. UVU's
Breanna DeWaal and
Breanna Eves scored UVU's goals in the loss.
Through 19 matches this season,
Heather Stainbrook leads the Wolverines in scoring with nine goals. Stainbrook also has four assists and is second on the team with 48 points.
Sadie Brockbank leads the team in assists (9), points (23), shots (72), and shots on goal (32). She also ranks second on the team with seven goals.
Nicole Ray is third on the team with five goals, followed by
Julianna Carter and Amber Trip with three apiece.
Breanna Eves and
Grace Beeston each have two goals, while DeWaal,
Jenna Shepherd, and
London Miller have one. In all, 10 Wolverines have found the back of the net this season with seven players recording multiple goals.
Brooklyn Nielsen leads the Wolverines in the box with 44 saves and a 1.24 goals allowed per game average. She holds a .647 save percentage and has seven solo shutouts and three combined clean sheets.
BROADCAST INFO FOR THE WAC TOURNAMENT
All of Utah Valley's matches at the WAC Tournament in Abilene, Texas will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Ben Wilson will be on the call, while Mary Kay Mauro will handle the analyst duties. ESPN+ can be found on any smartTV or online at ESPNplus.com.
ABOUT SAM HOUSTON
Sam Houston heads into Wednesday night's match with an 8-9-0 record. The team finished third in the WAC's Southwest division with a 6-4-0 record. The Bearkats have won two straight and five of their last seven matches, including a 2-1 win over Southwest Division WAC champion Stephen F. Austin in the team's regular season finale. Landri Townsend and Caitlyn McDonald lead Sam Houston in scoring with five goals apiece. Six other Bearkats have scored at least one goal. Townsend leads the team in points with 13, followed by McDonald with 10. Abby DeLozier and Tatum Krueger have split time in the box this season with 11 games apiece. DeLozier leds Sam Houston with 60 saves, followed by Krueger with 57.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAM HOUSTON
Utah Valley and Sam Houston will meet up on the pitch for just the second time on Wednesday night. Sam Houston took a 3-2 win over the Wolverines in the team's lone matchup on Oct. 18, 2009 in Hunstville, Texas.
All-Time Results vs. Sam Houston
Oct. 18, 2009 Sam Houston def. Utah Valley, 3-2 Huntsville, Texas
SHUTOUT CITY
Utah Valley has 10 shutouts this season--the second most in team history. The UVU record for shutouts in a single season is 11, which the team did last season on its historic run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Utah Valley has four shutout wins in its last five matches heading into Wednesday night's game against Sam Houston. UVU ranks 31st in the nation in shutout percentage at .526.
UVU AT THE WAC TOURNAMENT
The Wolverines hold an all-time 8-5-2 record at the WAC Tournament since joining the league in 2013. Utah Valley went 1-0-1 at the tournament last season with a 1-1 tie against NM State (UVU advanced 4-3 on PKs) and a 1-0 win over WAC rival Seattle U in the championship match. UVU will play a first round match for the fifth time in team history. The Wolverines hold a 3-1 record in WAC Tournament first round matches. UVU has reached the championship match of the tournament in two of the last three seasons. The team has reached at least the semifinals of the tournament for seven straight seasons. The only year the Wolverines did not reach the semifinals was the team's first year in the league in 2013.
All-Time UVU WAC Tournament Results (8-5-2)
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 NM 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 First Round #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.)
Nov. 10, 2019 Championship #1 Seattle U 2, #2 Utah Valley 1 - ot (Seattle, Wash.)
April 15, 2021 Semifinals #1 Utah Valley 1, #5 NM State 1 - 2ot (Phoenix, Ariz.)
April 17, 2021 Championship #1 Utah Valley 1, #2 Seattle U 0 (Phoenix, Ariz.)
EVES NAMED WAC FRESHMAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Utah Valley midfielder
Breanna Eves has been named the WAC Women's Soccer Freshman of the Year. Eves becomes just the second player in UVU history to earn the honor.
Eves also earned Freshman All-WAC team honors. She received All-Freshman team honors last season, but got the year back because of the pandemic and is currently a second-year freshman. The Springville, Utah native has helped the Wolverines both offensively and defensively this season. She has scored two goals and has recorded a pair of assists for six points this year. She also has 10 shots, including six on frame. Eves has also helped the UVU defense register 10 shutouts this season, the second most in UVU history.
Eves joins
Amber Tripp as the only Wolverines to ever win WAC Freshman of the Year honors. Tripp won the award in 2017.
EIGHT WOLVERINES EARN WAC POSTSEASON HONORS
The Western Athletic Conference announced its 2021 women's soccer postseason honors and Utah Valley was well represented as eight of its players received awards, marking the second-most postseason honors that the team has ever earned.
Utah Valley midfielder
Breanna Eves was named the WAC Freshman of the Year and earned Freshman All-WAC honors.
Jenna Shepherd,
Sadie Brockbank,
Amber Tripp, and
Heather Stainbrook received First Team All-WAC honors, while
Sydney Bushman and
Julianna Carter were each named Second Team All-WAC. Eves and
Nicole Ray were each named to the Freshman All-WAC team.
UVU HOLDS TOP-100 RPI, SECOND-BEST RPI IN WAC
Utah Valley holds the second-best RPI in the WAC as the Wolverines are currently No. 84 in the latest ranking. Utah Valley is sandwiched between Washington at No. 83 and Buffalo and No. 85. Grand Canyon holds the top spot at No. 49, followed by Utah Valley (84), Stephen F. Austin (114), Seattle U (146), New Mexico State (155), California Baptist (183), Lamar (217), Sam Houston (230), Dixie State (257), Abilene Christian (283), UTRGV (305), and Chicago State (335).
UVU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Utah Valley is in the top-50 of the national rankings in three team statistical categories and seven individual categories. UVU ranks 31st nationally in shutout percentage (.526), 49th in total assists (36), an 50th in assists per game (1.89).
Sadie Brockbank ranks second nationally in yellow cards (6), 27th in shots per game (4.00), 37th in assists per game (0.50), and 64th in total points (23).
Brooklyn Nielsen ranks 26th in the nation in goalie minutes played (1740:17) and 37th in shutouts (7).
Heather Stainbrook ranks 28th in game-winning goals (4).
TRIPP BECOMES UVU's ALL-TIME CAREER LEADER IN ASSISTS, GAMES PLAYED, GAMES STARTED, AND MINUTES PLAYED
Utah Valley senior forward
Amber Tripp has become the Utah Valley all-time leader in three categories. With her six assists this season, she moved to the top of the UVU career assists list with 25 helpers.
Breanna DeWaal and
Sadie Brockbank are tied for second on the career assists list with 19 assists each. Tripp has also become the all-time UVU leader in games played with 103 with DeWaal second at 93. She also has started more games than any other Wolverine with 83 starts, while DeWaal is tied for fourth at 76. Tripp is also the career UVU leader in minutes played at 7,083 followed by DeWaal in second at 6756.
BROCKBANK CLIMBING ALL-TIME UVU CAREER POINTS LIST
Utah Valley junior forward
Sadie Brockbank is now just five points shy of becoming UVU's all-time leader for career points. Brockbank has 67 career points and is now just five point away from surpassing Jenni Clough's mark of 71 points.
Amber Tripp is in third at 63 career points and
Breanna DeWaal is sixth with 55 points.
