UTAH VALLEY HOSTS DIXIE STATE IN OLD HAMMER RIVALRY MATCH ON SATURDAY NIGHT
Utah Valley continues Western Athletic Conference play this week at home as the team welcomes in-state foe Dixie State to Clyde Field for an Old Hammer Rivalry match on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Utah Valley enters Saturday's match against Dixie State with a 6-4-1 overall record and a 1-0-1 mark in WAC play. The Wolverines opened league play last week at home with a 0-0 double-overtime draw against Grand Canyon on Thursday. The team then picked up a 2-0 shutout win over New Mexico State on Saturday night. The Wolverine defense picked up its fifth and sixth shutouts of the season, while Nicole Ray and Sadie Brockbank each scored goals in the win over New Mexico State.

Heather Stainbrook and Brockbank lead the Wolverines in scoring with five goals apiece. Brockbank leads the team with 14 points. Brockbank also leads UVU with 36 shots, including a team-best 18 on frame. Ray has four goals, followed by Amber Tripp, Breanna Eves, Jenna Shepherd, Grace Beeston, and London Miller who each have one goal. In all, eight Wolverines have scored a goal this season. Brockbank and Carter are tied for the team lead in assists with four each.

The UVU defense has recorded six shutout wins. The defense has allowed 14 goals through its 11 games. Brooklyn Nielsen has led the Wolverines in the box with 26 saves and holds a .650 save percentage. She has a 1.24 goals allowed average in 1015 minutes in goal.

BROADCAST INFO
Saturday night's match against Dixie State will be streamed live on ESPN+. Brandon Crow will handle play-by-play duties, while former Wolverine Melanie (Ostler) Perkins will be handle the color commentary.
 
ABOUT DIXIE STATE
Dixie State enters Saturday's match against the Wolverines with a 4-8-0 overall record and a 0-2-0 record in WAC play. The Trailblazers are in their second season in the WAC. DSU dropped a pair of matches at home last week to open WAC play, falling 2-1 to New Mexico State before dropping a 5-1 decision to Grand Canyon. All three of DSU's wins this season have come away from St. George. The Trailblazers are on a current three-match losing skid and have dropped five of their last six matches. Redshirt senior forward Whitley Griffiths and freshman midfielder Kalea Woodyatt lead the team in scoring with three goals each. Junior keeper Kayla Gonzales leads the team in the box with 75 saves and a 2.20 goals per game allowed average. As a team, Dixie State averages 1.08 goals a game while allowing 2.25 a match.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY VS. DIXIE STATE
Utah Valley and Dixie State meet up on the pitch for the seventh time on Saturday. UVU holds and all-time 3-2-1 advantage in the series. The two teams meet up in Orem for just the second time in the last 15 years. The Wolverines swept last season's two-match series against the Trailblazers, picking up a 3-2 win in St. George and a 3-0 shutout win in Orem.

BUSHMAN EARNS WAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR SEPT. 20-26
Utah Valley's Sydney Bushman has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for Sept. 20-26. Bushman anchored the Utah Valley defense to a pair of shutouts last week against Grand Canyon and New Mexico State. She consistently shut down offensive threats and kept the ball on the offensive side of the pitch for the Wolverines. She helped UVU keep possession of the ball for 62 percent of the time against NM State and 54 percent of the time against Grand Canyon.

UVU EARNS THIRD-STRAIGHT UNITED SOCCER COACHES TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
Utah Valley has earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the team's exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2020-21 academic year. College teams with a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster for the 2020-21 academic year are recognized with the honor. Utah Valley had one of the highest cumulative team GPAs in the country at 3.61. The honor marks the third-straight year that Utah Valley has received the award. The Wolverines have earned the award seven times. UVU was one of six teams from the Western Athletic Conference to earn the award. The Wolverines join the University of Utah as the only Division I schools in the state of Utah to earn the honor this year.