REGULAR SEASON WRAPS UP AT CBU
With a spot in next week's WAC Tournament secured, Utah Valley University heads to Southern California to close out the regular season with a Friday evening contest at California Baptist. The game kicks at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT from Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California.
The Wolverines are 8-5-2 overall and 5-4-0 in the WAC, and will play next Wednesday, Nov. 10 in the WAC Tournament quarterfinal. The seed, opponent and game time will be decided after the rest of the league finishes play on Saturday night.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley split two home games last week, defeating Air Force, 3-0, before falling 1-0 to Grand Canyon, who moved up eight spots to No. 17 in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll. Against the Falcons, the Wolverines scored all three goals in the second half en route to remaining unbeaten all-time against Air Force. The Falcons entered the game tied atop the WAC table with GCU, but goals from Alejandro Silva, Aaron Nixon and Carter Johnson helped UVU to the shutout and the second clean sheet in as many starts for Jason Smith. Min Kang assisted on Silva's goal, Nixon rebounded his own saved PK attempt, and Evans Armah and Jojea Kwizera assisted on Johnson's goal.
PROJECTING THE TOURNAMENT
Next week's tournament begins with the two quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 10. The top two teams will earn a bye in the opening round, with host GCU already securing the top seed and the regular season title. Seeds two through six are still officially undecided. The sixth spot will go to either UT Rio Grande Valley or Incarnate Word. Those two teams meet on Saturday in San Antonio with a winner advancing to the tournament. A draw would also result in UIW earning the No. 6 seed.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
California Baptist enters its final match of the season at 11-3-3 overall and 6-2-2 in WAC play. The Lancers could still reach as high as third in the final regular season standings, but are in their final year of a transition from NCAA Division II and won't be eligible for the WAC Tournament until next fall. CBU fell 2-1 at home to Grand Canyon last week before handing Air Force a 1-0 defeat.
Bryan Iliohan leads all WAC players and is tied for fourth nationally with 13 goals scored. The Lancers are the second-highest scoring team in the league, averaging 2.12 goals per game. UVU is 2-1-0 all-time against CBU with the Lancers winning the most recent meeting, 4-1, this past spring in Orem.
