RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Omar Yehya scored his 12th goal of the season just 19 seconds into the match to lead Utah Valley (8-5-4, 3-3-2 WAC) to a 1-0 win over California Baptist (5-7-5, 4-4-1 WAC) on Sunday night to secure the team a spot in the WAC Tournament.
For the third straight season, the Wolverines' postseason fate came down to the final matchday of the season, and for the third straight season, Utah Valley delivered the result it needed.
The Wolverines came into WAC decision day knowing a win would guarantee the team a spot in next week's WAC Tournament, but other results around the league made it so that was UVU's only path to keep its season alive. With the win, the Wolverines secure the No. 4 seed and will face the No. 5 seed San José State on Nov. 10 in Phoenix.
Yehya finishes the WAC regular season with a league-best 12 goals, including five in league play. Yehya is the second Wolverine to win the WAC Golden Boot, joining Blake Frischknecht who won it in 2019. Yehya is the first to win it outright.
Utah Valley wasted little time getting on the board, as Yehya blitzed past the Lancer defense to score just 19 seconds in — Yehya's second-fastest goal of the season, and the second-fastest in program history. Issaka Salifu won a 50-50 ball to chip the ball forward to Yehya, who corralled it near the center circle and wound his way around the CBU back line before chipping the keeper with the outside of his boot.
Ben Williams recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season with two saves, the first of which came in the 14th minute. Williams came off his line to snuff out a centering pass and snared the ball as it came off of the Lancers' Blake D'Agostino's foot.
Utah Valley kept CBU pinned inside its own half for most of the remainder of the first half and early in the second half, but the Lancers were able to get an open look on goal in the 59th minute that missed the target. Tizian Marth was sent through on goal, but his curler went wide right.
The Lancers put some sustained pressure on the Wolverine defense in the final five minutes via a pair of corner kicks, but CBU was unable to register any shots off of them. Utah Valley's defense stood tall and kept the Lancers from getting into any dangerous scoring opportunities.
Utah Valley punched its ticket to the WAC Tournament on the final day of the season for the third-straight year, and for the second time in the last three years against these same Lancers. The Wolverines pulled out a dramatic come-from-behind 2-1 win to close out the 2022 regular season, and secured a 2-2 draw against GCU in the final match of the 2023 regular season.
The Wolverines will now have a week to prepare for the WAC Tournament, set to be held at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. Utah Valley will face the No. 5 seed San José State Spartans. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MST, and all games will be streamed on ESPN+.
