The Utah Valley men's soccer team continues its seven-game road trip with a pair of matchups against the CSUN Matadors on Thursday at 6 p.m. MDT and the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Sunday at 8 p.m. MDT. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Sunday's game against UCSB marks the midway point of Utah Valley's seven-game road swing. The Wolverines will return home on October 13 against Houston Baptist.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley closed out its Pacific Northwest road trip with a 4-1 loss against No. 8/2 Washington on Friday. The Wolverines held the Huskies scoreless in the first half, but a flurry of goals inside the first 18 minutes of the second half saw Utah Valley down 4-0. Mark Andros was able to pull one back in the 78th minute off of an assist from Diego Sanchez.
ABOUT THE MATADORS
CSUN hails from the Big West Conference, where the Matadors finished eighth a season ago with a 4-13-1 record. CSUN has made the NCAA Tournament seven times as a Division I member, most recently in 2016. The Matadors are off to an unbeaten 3-0-1 start to the season, with wins over San Diego State, Pacific, and UNLV. CSUN was ranked 9th in the initial United Soccer Coaches' Far West Region Top-10 poll, one spot ahead of the Wolverines. CSUN goalkeeper Cooper Wenzel was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of the season, posting a clean sheet against San Diego State and six saves in a 1-1 draw with SIU-Edwardsville.
SERIES HISTORY VS CSUN
Utah Valley holds a 2-2-1 record all-time against the Matadors. The two schools last met in 2021, which was a 5-1 victory for the Wolverines. Jojea Kwizera scored, Aaron Nixon had two goals and an assist, and Diego Castillo and Carter Johnson both had a goal and an assist in the win.
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
UCSB is 2-1-1 on the season thus far, with wins over California Baptist and No. 24 Loyola Marymount, as well as a road draw with No. 19 Missouri State. Forward Salvador Aguilar was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week for the first week of the season, scoring a goal apiece against No. 19 Missouri State and California Baptist.
Last season, the Gauchos claimed a share of the Big West regular season crown with UC Irvine, then went on to defeat the Anteaters 4-0 in the Big West Tournament title game. UCSB faced rival UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell to the Bruins 2-1 in double-overtime.
SERIES HISTORY VS UCSB
Sunday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Gauchos and Wolverines on the pitch.
RECORD VS THE BIG WEST
In non-conference play, the Wolverines have played foes out of the Big West the most, with 18 all-time meetings with schools from the conference. Heading into this week's matchups versus CSUN and UCSB, UVU holds a 9-8-1 record against Big West foes.
WOLVERINES STAY PUT IN FAR WEST REGION POLL
Following Utah Valley's 4-1 loss at Washington on Friday, the Wolverines stayed put at No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches' Far West Region Poll. Joining UVU in the poll is fellow WAC member California Baptist, who comes in at No. 9 following wins over Gonzaga and San Diego. Both CSUN and UCSB find themselves in the Top 10, checking in at No. 4 and 6 respectively.
UNITED SOCCER COACHES FAR WEST REGION TOP-10 POLL
-
Stanford
-
Washington
-
UCLA
-
CSUN
-
Oregon State
-
UC Santa Barbara
-
CSU-Fullerton
-
UC San Diego
-
California Baptist
-
Utah Valley
