Following a three-week hiatus since their last game, the Utah Valley men's soccer team will open WAC play with a two-game road swing against Grand Canyon and Air Force. Friday's match against the Lopes is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. MDT and will be streamed on ESPN+. Sunday's match against the Falcons is scheduled for 1 p.m. MDT and will be streamed on the WAC International channel.

Friday marks the Wolverines' first trip to Phoenix to take on the Lopes since 2018. Utah Valley was scheduled to play at GCU to open the Spring 2021 season, but the match was canceled due to COVID-19. GCU Soccer Stadium hosted the WAC Tournament last season, with UVU falling to San Jose State 4-3 in the quarterfinals. Utah Valley will look to extend its four-match win streak over Air Force when the two teams meet on Sunday. 

LAST TIME OUT

UVU (2-3-1) comes into Friday's matchup with GCU looking to right the ship, with just one win in its last five matches. The Wolverines wrapped up a tough non-conference slate with a 3-2 loss to defending WCC champs Santa Clara back on Sept. 16. In non-conference play, Utah Valley faced three teams that were in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason Top 25 poll, as well as a UC Santa Barbara side that's reached as high as 18th in the same poll. 

ABOUT THE LOPES

GCU comes into Friday's match 3-5-2. The Lopes opened conference play with a 2-1 loss at Utah Tech last Friday and a 2-2 draw with UNLV. In non-conference play, the Lopes and Wolverines played three common opponents in Santa Clara, UCSB, and Washington. UVU went 0-3 versus those opponents, while GCU went 0-2-1. 

HISTORY VS GCU

UVU won the first three meetings between the two schools in 2014-2016, but have since lost four of the last five matchups, including a 1-0 loss in Orem last season. The Wolverines last beat the Lopes in 2019, a 3-2 win in Orem. The last game in Phoenix was in 2018, a 2-1 win for GCU.

ABOUT THE FALCONS

The Falcons (3-4-2, 2-0 WAC) started off conference play strong with a pair of road wins over Utah Tech and UNLV. Air Force played six out of its seven non-conference games on the road, including four against teams ranked at the time in the Top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches' Poll. Sunday's matchup with Utah Valley marks just the third home game of the season for the Falcons, who host California Baptist on Friday.

HISTORY VS AIR FORCE

In eight all-time meetings, Utah Valley is unbeaten against the Falcons. Three of the last four meetings have been multi-goal wins for the Wolverines, with the closest game in that span being a UVU win on PK's in the 2019 WAC Tournament. 

WHO TO WATCH FOR 

GCU and Air Force were both well-represented in the preseason All-WAC team. The Lopes' Shaun Joash and Rodolfo Prado were named preseason All-WAC, with Joash being named preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Joash has four goals and three assists thus far on the season, including a goal against UNLV on Sunday. 

Falcon defender London Aghedo was also named preseason All-WAC, as well as preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Air Force's Thaddaeus Dewing and John Byszewski swept the WAC Player of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 13 for their roles in a 1-1 draw at No. 2 Washington on Sept. 11.

NIXON CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD

With his next goal, junior forward Aaron Nixon will move into a tie for sixth place on the all-time goal scoring list in UVU men's soccer history. Nixon currently sits on 10 career goals, with Zach Maas (2017-2021) sitting just above him with 11. Nixon will need four more goals to break into the top five, with Austin Buxton (2014-2018) sitting at 13 goals.