OREM—Faith Webber scored a brace and Utah Valley poured in a season-high seven goals in a 7-1 rout of California Baptist on Friday night at UCCU Stadium.
Utah Valley improves to 7-4-1 overall and remains perfect in WAC play, moving its league record to 3-0-0. CBU falls to 6-6-1 overall and 2-1-0 in league play.
California Baptist struck first as Nikki Mau scored in the third minute. The Wolverines quickly responded just six minutes later when
Sierra Pennock sent a corner kick into the box from the left side.
Kate Shirts rose above the defense and headed it into the back of the net to even the match at 1-1.
Utah Valley grabbed a 2-1 advantage in the 33rd minute after
Ruby Hladek fed Webber inside the box. Webber faked left, cut back right, and fired a shot past the keeper for the go-ahead goal. With the assist, Hladek tallied her 26th career helper, surpassing Heather Stainbrook (2019–23) and Amber Tripp (2016–21), who each recorded 25 assists, to become Utah Valley's all-time career assist leader.
Hladek extended the lead to 3-1 in the 49th minute, dribbling down the middle before unleashing a 30-yard strike into the upper 90.
Webber struck again in the 56th minute after
Nixan Jackson outpaced the Lancer defense and slipped her a short pass in the box. Webber finished with a one-touch shot to make it 4-1.
Jackson again used her speed in the 68th minute, sending a cross to Pennock at the top of the box, where she rocketed a shot into the net to push the lead to 5-1.
Utah Valley continued the offensive onslaught in the 79th minute when Maria Quentel sent a pass wide to
Lulie MacFarlane, who crossed it into the box. Junior midfielder
Mia Owens was there to one-touch it home with her right foot, her reaction filled with joy.
"Honestly, speechless. I'm so excited," Owens said. "There was so much adrenaline, but I'm just so happy that after last year's results, we could come back and dominate. I wasn't even expecting that ball, but I just got up there and hit it in."
The Wolverines capped the scoring in the 87th minute when Quentel's free kick caused a scramble in the box. The ball found the foot of
Bailey Peterson, who buried it for her first career goal, making it 7-1.
Utah Valley outshot California Baptist 24-7 with a 13-3 edge on goal. Webber led the way with six shots, while Pennock and Hladek tallied three each.
Leah Wolf recorded two saves in 80 minutes of action as the Wolverine defense allowed just its second goal in three conference matches.
"I thought it was unfortunate that we started out a little bit slow, but luckily we reacted well after they scored," Lemay said. "I was very happy with the second half and seeing so many players get involved in our attack and produce. Overall, it was a really good performance, and at the end of the day it's worth three points just like the rest of them."
"I'm less concerned about the numbers and more about the fact that we're playing the brand of soccer I know we're capable of," he said. "Our ball movement has been good, our press has been good, and the results and goals are byproducts of us doing the things we know we can do well. And I also want to thank all the fans who came out tonight—what a great crowd at UCCU Stadium. That support makes a difference for our team."
The win over CBU wrapped up a three-game homestand for the Wolverines. Utah Valley now heads out for three straight on the road, beginning with Utah Tech in St. George on Oct. 9. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
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