SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Omar Yehya found the back of the net in the 80th minute off of a corner kick taken by Alejandro Silva to give the Utah Valley men's soccer team a 1-1 draw on the road against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Tuesday night.
Yehya was one of five Wolverines who played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday, and led all players with five shots, including three on goal. In his second-career start in goal, Aden Mills put on a gutsy performance, picking up two saves and standing tall in the face of pressure from the Mustang attackers.
Yehya had the first quality scoring chance of the match in the ninth minute when he forced a save out of Mustang keeper Justin Siegel. Siegel had four saves on four shots on goal in the first 45.
Cal Poly scored the opener after capitalizing on a counterattack in the 18th minute.
Yehya nearly equalized immediately in the 19th minute, but his shot was saved. The Mustangs went on to dominate possession over the next 15 minutes, forcing five corner kicks, while Aden Mills made a full-extension save in the 32nd minute to keep the deficit at one.
Michele Signorelli nearly pulled off a spectacular goal in the waning moments of the first half, but his volley was pushed just wide by Siegel.
The Wolverines came out of the intermission aggressively, picking up two corner kicks and a shot on goal by Silva within the first five minutes.
Mills pulled off his best save of the night in the 53rd minute. After diving for and narrowly missing a long-range Cal Poly shot that karomed off the post, Mills recovered and stopped a point-blank shot that kept it a one-score game.
Yehya equalized for Utah Valley in the 80th minute off of a corner kick sent in by Silva. With the Wolverines crowding the penalty area, Silva sent the ball to the top of the 18 for an unmarked Yehya, who took one touch and blasted it into the back of the net.
Kendi Bellini picked up two yellow cards in the match, the second of which came in the 84th minute on a seemingly harmless play. Bellini was shielding the ball out of play as he and a Mustang collided shoulder to shoulder, but Bellini was shown a second yellow as a result of the play.
Cal Poly was unable to capitalize on the man advantage the remainder of the way, picking up two off-target shots in the final six minutes.
Utah Valley returns to Clyde Field for the first time in over three weeks this Saturday as the Wolverines host WCC foe Pacific. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MDT, and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+. For tickets, head to
GoUVU.com/MSOCTix.