PHOENIX — Owen Knecht scored his second goal of the season for the Utah Valley men's soccer team, but two unanswered goals from the GCU Lopes proved to be enough as the Wolverines opened WAC play with a 2-1 loss to the defending WAC champions Friday night at GCU Soccer Stadium.
"I thought there was some good stuff offensively, but we're making mistakes right now that are costing us games," said head coach Kyle Beckerman. "We're gonna keep trying to improve and if we can sniff out some of our mistakes, we'll be in a good place as the season goes on."
The Wolverines (2-4-1, 0-1 WAC) were playing their first match in three weeks, while the Lopes (4-5-2, 1-1-1 WAC) came in looking to pick up their first win in WAC play after going winless against UNLV and Utah Tech in the first week of conference action. Utah Valley out-shot GCU 9-5, with a 5-2 advantage on goal, but the Lopes were able to make the most of their opportunities.
Things were chippy from the start, with the teams combining for 26 fouls and eight yellow cards, including a second yellow card dished out to Nico Torres in the waning seconds of the match.
The Wolverines had an excellent chance to open the scoring in the second minute when Ura Miura pounced on an errant pass in the attacking third. Miura sent a through ball towards Knecht, but was fouled just as he got the pass away. Despite Knecht having half a step on the GCU defender, the official declined to play the advantage and awarded Utah Valley the free kick just outside the penalty area. Alejandro Silva stepped up to take the free kick, but his shot was right at GCU keeper Leon Schmidt.
The Lopes looked to have opened the scoring in the eighth minute, but Samuel Lossou's tap-in was called back for being offside.
Miura had a decent look at goal in the 12th minute, but his curling shot with his right foot didn't have enough bend to make it inside the far post.
Knecht got the Wolverines on the board in the 23rd minute when his shot deflected in. Mark Andros sent Kendi Bellini through on goal, who pulled Schmidt off his line. Bellini laid off a pass for the trailing Knecht, whose shot ricocheted off Lossou and in.
Utah Valley didn't hold the lead for long, as the Lopes equalized in the 28th minute off the foot of WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Shaun Joash.
Loed Klaasen unloaded on a shot in the 57th minute for the first chance on goal of the second half, but his shot was saved by Schmidt just inside the left post.
Jibril Rodet caught the Wolverines out on the counterattack in the 59th minute to give the Lopes a 2-1 advantage. Rodet's shot took a friendly deflection off the right post and spun just across the goal line past a sliding Mateo Palomino who was unable to clear it in time.
Some fancy footwork from Miura in the 71st minute set up another shot on goal, but his shot was easily corralled by Schmidt. Nik Kizerian unleashed a shot 90 seconds later from the edge of the penalty area, but his shot was parried away. The Wolverines were unable to put any shots on goal in the final 20 minutes of the match, and a frustrating night culminated in Torres being shown his second yellow of the night after a poor challenge in the 88th minute.
Utah Valley finally wraps up its seven-game road trip with a Sunday matinee against the Air Force Falcons, who sit atop the table in the WAC after three straight wins over UNLV, Utah Tech, and California Baptist to open conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. MDT and the match will be streamed at WACInternational.tv.
