Utah Valley heads to Southern California for the final two games of the regular season, facing off with the San Diego State Aztecs on Thursday and the California Baptist Lancers on Sunday.

Thursday's game in San Diego is slated for an 8 p.m. MDT start, and will be streamed live on WAC International. Sunday's game in Riverside will kick off at 6 p.m. MST and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Utah Valley is coming off a 1-0-1 homestand that culminated in Zach Lifferth's dramatic 90th minute goal to secure a 2-1 win over Utah Tech on Monday. Lifferth scored with just 19 seconds remaining, making it the latest game-winning goal in regulation in program history.

The Wolverines enter the week tied for sixth place in the WAC standings, level on eight points with San José State, who holds the tiebreaker between the two sides. Entering Thursday's games, just four points separate third place UNLV (11) and ninth place Utah Tech (7). The top six teams will qualify for the WAC Tournament, set to be hosted by GCU on Nov. 10-16. 

EMOJONG NAMED TO TDS TOP 100 FRESHMEN LIST

UVU midfielder Isaac Emojong was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Top 100 list. Emojong ranks second among WAC freshmen with four goals so far this season, including a game-winner against FAU and a pair of goals against his hometown teams in Sac State and UC Davis. 

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Utah Valley travels to San Diego for its first-ever conference game against San Diego State and second game overall. SDSU was a founding member of the WAC in men's soccer when the league first sponsored the sport back in 1996. The Aztecs were most recently in the PAC-12 prior to this season. UVU won the one previous meeting, 1-0 back in 2017.

SERIES HISTORY vs CBU

Sunday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Lancers in what has historically been a very tight series, with UVU leading 4-2-1. Every Wolverine win in the series has been by one goal, and both Lancer wins have been by two or more goals. Last year, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw at Clyde Field.

UVU AMONG NATION'S BEST IN ATTENDANCE

Despite having a reduced capacity of 1,050 at Clyde Field this season due to construction, the team still averaged 963 fans, the 2nd-most in the WAC and 8th in the nation in percent capacity. Utah Valley has ranked among the top 30 teams in the nation in average attendance every year in program history, including as high as 11th in 2018.

ROAD WARRIORS

Utah Valley has posted one of its best road records through seven games in program history at 4-1-2 (.714). The team was unbeaten through five road games for just the second time in program history before falling to GCU on Oct. 13. UVU's best road record came in 2021 — Beckerman's first season at the helm — when the team went 6-1-2 (.778) away from home.

#GOALS

Entering this week, Utah Valley is the only school in NCAA Division I with both a men's and women's soccer player in the top 10 nationally in goals scored. UVU women's soccer's Faith Webber enters the week 1st in the nation, and men's soccer's Omar Yehya is tied for 8th.

REDLANDS CONNECTION

Utah Valley's two players from Redlands, Calif., combined for the second time this season for the Wolverines' first goal against Utah Tech on Monday. Omar Yehya chipped a cross into the 6 for Nate Kovalcik, who headed it home. Kovalcik previously assisted on Yehya's goal against Lindenwood on Sept. 16. The two will be playing their final collegiate regular season game just 20 miles from their hometown in Riverside at California Baptist on Sunday.

UVU STATISTICAL RANKINGS IN THE WAC & NATION

As of Oct. 28, Utah Valley ranks among the best in the WAC and in the nation in many team and individual categories:

Assists/Game: 2nd WAC, 1.5/game

Goal Differential: 2nd WAC (+5)

Scoring Offense: t-2nd WAC, 1.5/game

Assists: 3rd WAC (20)

Total Goals: 2nd WAC (22)

Goals Against Average: t-2nd WAC, 1.188/game

Goalie minutes played: Ben Williams, t-1st WAC, 5th NCAA (1,440)

Points/Game: Omar Yehya, 1st WAC, 26th NCAA (1.56)

Game-winning goals: Omar Yehya, 2nd WAC (3)

Assists (individual): Gilles Aurelien, 1st WAC, 25th NCAA (7)

Goals (individual): Omar Yehya, 1st WAC, t-8th NCAA (11)

Total Points: Omar Yehya, 1st WAC, 9th NCAA (25)

UP NEXT

Depending on the results of this week's games, the Wolverines will head to the WAC Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona on the campus of GCU. The tournament will run from Nov. 10-16. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+.