UTAH VALLEY TO TAKE ON MEMPHIS IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT
Utah Valley travels to North Carolina to take on Memphis in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday, April 28, at Johnson Stadium on the campus of East Carolina University. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (MT).

The match between UVU and Memphis at the NCAA Tournament will mark the first time the two teams have met on the pitch.

UVU heads into NCAA Tournament play after earning its conference's automatic bid at the WAC Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. The Wolverines earned the No. 1 seed and a first round bye at the tournament and advanced past New Mexico State on PKs in the semifinal before defeating Seattle U en route to the WAC Tournament title.

The Wolverines make their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament after capturing its third WAC Tournament Championship. The title earned Utah Valley its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in team history and its second showing under head coach Chris Lemay. UVU has made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015, 2017, and now 2020-21.
 
Memphis enters the first round match against the Wolverines with an 8-3-0 overall record. The Tigers most recently dropped a 1-0 decision to Cincinnati in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on April 15. The team had won five straight before the loss to USF, which included a 3-2 overtime win over No. 6 Vanderbilt. Memphis earned a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season and makes its ninth overall trip to the tournament and fourth in the last five seasons.

BROADCAST INFO
Wednesday's NCAA Tournament first round match against Memphis will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Evan Budrovich will be handling the play-by-play duties.

UVU AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Wolverines hold an all-time 0-2 record at the NCAA Tournament. Utah Valley made its first trip to the tournament in 2015, dropping a 1-0 decision at crosstown rival BYU in the first round. UVU fell 9-1 at eventual national champion Stanford in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

All-Time UVU WAC Tournament Results
Nov. 14, 2015    First Round    BYU 1, Utah Valley 0        Provo, Utah
Nov. 11, 2017    First Round    Stanford 9, Utah Valley 1    Stanford, Calif.

ABOUT MEMPHIS
Memphis enters the first round match against the Wolverines with an 8-3-0 overall record. The Tigers most recently dropped a 1-0 decision to Cincinnati in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on April 15. The team has dropped two of its last three matches with a 2-1 setback at No. 21 USF, a 1-0 win over East Carolina, and the 1-0 loss to Cincinnati. The team had won five straight before the loss to USF, which included a 3-2 overtime win over No. 6 Vanderbilt. Memphis earned a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season and makes its ninth overall trip to the tournament and fourth in the last five seasons. Memphis has had eight different players score a goal this season. Junior midfielder/forward Tanya Boychuk, senior forward Clarissa Larisey, and freshman midfielder/defender Grace Stordy each have three goals and one assist for seven points. Boychuk leads the team with 25 shots, including nine on frame. Senior keeper Elizabeth Moberg leads the team in the box, playing all 11 matches for Memphis with a 0.81 goals allowed average and 23 saves. As a team, Memphis averages 1.55 goals  and 16.1 shots per match. Memphis is coached by Brooks Monaghan who is in his 21st season with the team. He has led the Tigers to ten league championships and eight NCAA Tournament appearances.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MEMPHIS, AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Utah Valley and Memphis will meet on the pitch for the first time on Wednesday. The Wolverines have played only one team from the American Athletic Conference as the team took on Tulsa in both 2006 and 2017. UVU dropped both of those matches, falling 2-1 to the Golden Hurricane in Laramie, Wyoming in 2006 before dropping a 1-0 decision to Tulsa in Oklahoma in 2017.

All-Time Results vs. Teams from the American Athletic Conference
Aug. 27, 2006     Tulsa def. Utah Valley, 2-1     Laramie, Wyoming
Sept. 1, 2017     Tulsa def. Utah Valley, 1-0        Tulsa, Oklahoma

UVU TEAM LEADERS
Through its 20 matches this season, Heather Stainbrook, Sadie Brockbank, and Jenna Shepherd lead the Wolverines in scoring with five goals each. Brockbank fonts the team with in shots with a WAC-best 80, including a conference-best 44 on frame. Brockbank ranks 11th nationally in shots on goal per game at 2.32. She also ranks 13th in shots per game at 4.21 a match.  Julianna Carter, Heather Stainbrook, Anna Pickering, and London Miller each have four goals, while Amber Tripp and Cassidy McCormick have three. Stainbrook ranks second on the team in total shots with 51, followed by Miller with 37 and Tripp at 29. Brockbank leads the team in assists with five and points with 15. Isabel Jones-Dawe leads the team in the box with an 10-4-4 record. She has recorded 54 saves and owns an .771 save percentage. She holds a goals allowed average of 0.92.

WOLVERINES RANKED #29 IN TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM POLL
The Wolverines have earned their first-ever national ranking, coming in at No. 29 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer.com poll. UVU is nestled between No. 28 Loyola Chicago and No. 30 Wisconsin. UVU's NCAA First Round opponent, Memphis, is ranked No. 25 in the poll.

MCCORMICK NAMED TO TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
Cassidy McCormick was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week after helping the Wolverines punch their ticket into the NCAA Tournament.  McCormick scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in the 76th minute of the match to lift UVU over Seattle U, 1-0, in the WAC Tournament championship match. The senior defender earned tournament MVP honors for her efforts.

JONES-DAWE EARNS THE WAC'S TOP PLAY OF THE WEEK
Isabel Jones-Dawe won the WAC's Top Play on a diving save to her left and stopped the ball with her outstretched arm to help secure the Wolverines a 1-0 shutout win over Seattle U in the championship match of the WAC Tournament. Jones-Dawe earned WAC All-Tournament team honors for her efforts at the tournament.

UVU DEFEATS SEATTLE U 1-0 TO CLAIM WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
Cassidy McCormick fired in the game-winning penalty kick in the 76th minute to help lift Utah Valley to a 1-0 shutout win over rival Seattle U to claim the 2020-21 Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship on Saturday at GCU Stadium. With the win, Utah Valley earns the WAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will take place in North Carolina beginning on April 27. The win marks UVU's third WAC Tournament title. The team also won the tournament in 2015 and 2017.
 
"We are absolutely thrilled," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. "At halftime we readjusted some things and talked about tempo and moving off the ball and trying to play our brand of soccer that got us here. In the final half, we executed really well. I couldn't be more happy for this group of young women because I love them and I'm so proud of them."
 
Breanna DeWall was fouled in the box in the 76th minute to secure the Wolverines the penalty kick. McCormick, who had scored the final PK to help UVU advance past NM State in Thursday's semifinal, took the kick and fired it past the SU keeper and into the net for the game winner. UVU's Isabel Jones-Dawe picked up the shutout in the box after tallying a pair of impressive diving saves during the match. UVU outshot Seattle 6-3 on shots on goal. Sadie Brockbank led Utah Valley with four shots, including one on goal. Anna Pickering had a pair of shots, while Heather Stainbrook, Breanna Eves, Jenna Shepherd, and McCormick each had one.

MCCORMICK EARNS WAC TOURNAMENT MVP HONORS, STAINBROOK, JONES-DAWE, AND PICKERING ADDED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Cassidy McCormick's performance at the WAC Tournament earned her MVP honors. McCormick scored the game-winning penalty kick in the championship match against Seattle U and knocked in the penalty kick that advanced the Wolverines past New Mexico State in the semifinals. Heather Stainbrook, Isabel Jones-Dawe, and Anna Pickering were named to the All-Tournament team.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Corey Kizer, NM State
Hannah Leitner, NM State
Jaycee Iranshad, Grand Canyon
Raeanne Jones, Grand Canyon
Michele Adam, Seattle U
Ava Benedetti, Seattle U
Hallie Bergford, Seattle U
Isabel Jones-Dawe, Utah Valley
Anna Pickering, Utah Valley
Heather Stainbrook, Utah Valley
MVP: Cassidy McCormick, Utah Valley