The Utah Valley men's soccer team opens WAC play this week on the road with a pair of matches against tough opposition. The Wolverines will open the conference season at No. 23 Seattle U on Thursday before heading to the Bay Area to face the San José State Spartans on Sunday.
Thursday's game in Seattle will kickoff at 5 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Sunday's match at SJSU will begin at 2 p.m. MDT and be shown on WAC International.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley closed out non-conference play with a 0-0 draw on Saturday against SoCon leader Mercer. The Wolverines put on a defensive showcase, limiting the Bears to just three shots in the entire match, all of which came in the second half. Landon Carter stopped both shots he faced to secure his second clean sheet of the season. Utah Valley had numerous close calls, including shots on goal by Floris van Nijnanten and Trevor Walk, but ultimately weren't able to find the back of the net.
SILVA MOVING UP LEADERBOARDS
With his two assists against Cal Poly and Pacific, junior midfielder Alejandro Silva now sits third all-time in UVU men's soccer history in career assists with 15. The record of 21 is held by Aaron Meyer (2015-16, 2019). Silva will also likely reach 4,000 minutes played in a Wolverine uniform on Thursday against Seattle U. Silva currently sits at 3,965 minutes played, and would be the 12th Wolverine to reach that mark.
CLYDE FIELD FORTRESS
Since the start of last season, Utah Valley is 6-0-2 in games at Clyde Field, and have allowed just 3 goals in those 8 games. In 2022, Utah Valley went a perfect 5-0 at home, and allowed just one goal in 450 minutes played at Clyde Field. The Wolverines out-shot their opposition 65-37 at home, with a dominating 33-7 advantage in shots on goal. At the end of the regular season, Utah Valley ranked 23rd in the nation in shutout percentage with a .467 mark and seven clean sheets overall. Of UVU's 7 wins in 2022, 6 of them were shutouts, including 4 at home.
ABOUT SEATTLE U
The No. 23 Redhawks are off to a hot start to the 2023 campaign, posting a 5-2-2 record, with wins over PAC-12 powers Oregon State and No. 20 Washington and a tie against No. 14 Denver. Seattle U is led by reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week James Morris, who had three goals in two games last week against Denver and UW. The Redhawks, under first-year head coach Nate Daligcon, were picked to finish fourth in the WAC.
ABOUT SAN JOSÉ STATE
The Spartans posted a 3-3-3 record during non-conference play, including wins over Sacramento State and crosstown rivals Santa Clara. SJSU closed out its non-league portion of the schedule with a 3-0 loss at UC Davis on Monday, and will open WAC play on Thursday against the struggling Air Force Falcons.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will head to St. George on Thursday, Oct. 5 to renew the Old Hammer Rivalry with Utah Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT, and the match will be streamed live on WAC International.
