Utah Valley heads to San Luis Obispo, Calif., for its first of three Pac-12 crossover games, facing off with the Cal Poly Mustangs on Wednesday night.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MDT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available at GoUVU.com/stats.
The game is the Wolverines’ third and final game against a reigning Big West regular season co-champion. Cal Poly tied with UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara last season.
GAME DAY INFO
MATCHUP: Utah Valley (7-1-2, 3-1 BW) at Cal Poly (4-4-5, 0-1-2 Pac-12)
KICKOFF: 8 p.m. MDT
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley scored three second-half goals to roll to a 3-0 win over Sacramento State on Saturday. It was the team's largest margin of victory in a league game since a 4-0 win over UTRGV in 2023.
With the win, UVU secured its best four-game start to league play since 2019 at 3-1, and could potentially clinch at least a share of the regular season title as soon as this coming Saturday vs CSUN. The Wolverines need to defeat the Matadors and have both UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara fail to win in their games on Saturday.
Jose Luis Martin Montealegre was named The Big West's Offensive POTW this week after picking up a pair of goal contributions against CSF and Sac State. Montealegre assisted on Luca Wingaa Laursen's opener at CSF on Wednesday, then scored the final goal of UVU's win over Sac State.
Freshman MF Oliver Watts continued his breakout run of form, picking up a goal and an assist vs Sac State. Watts has a goal contribution in 3 of the last 4 games. JUCO transfer Bismark Ayamba picked up his first point at the D-I level on Saturday, assisting on Noah Pogue's opener. Ayamba is the 15th different player to pick up a goal contribution this season. All but five outfield players with more than 50 minutes played have contributed to a goal so far this year.
Jackson Medina secured his second clean sheet of the season, improving his season GAA to 0.60, which ranks 8th in the nation. Medina made 7 saves at CSF on Wednesday, and 4 more against Sac State. UVU's team GAA of 0.80 ranks 15th nationally.
All 17 of Utah Valley's goals this season have been scored or assisted by an international player, believed to be the only team in the country to claim that distinction. Montealegre and Grau lead the team with 11 and 10 points respectively.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
One of four Big West schools who moved over to the Pac-12 as an affiliate member this season, Cal Poly is off to an 0-1-2 in league play, with draws to UC San Diego and San Diego State, while falling at California Baptist. CP has non-conference wins over UCSB, Utah Tech, LMU and San Jose State. The Mustangs are led offensively by Colin Pearce, who has a team-high four goals and four assists, as well as super sub Devin Bening, who has four goals while coming off the bench in all but two games.
SERIES HISTORY VS CAL POLY
Utah Valley leads the series 1-0-2. The last two meetings came in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with each ending in a 1-1 draw. The lone win in the series came in 2019, when Blake Frischknecht scored the first of his a program-record 13 goals to secure the 1-0 victory.
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Utah Valley's top offensive threats both hail from Spain in Nil Grau and Jose Montealegre. The two each have 7 goal contributions this season — 4G/3A for Montealegre and 3G/4A for Grau — and least one of the two have registered a point in all but four games dating back to Sept. 4, 2025 against Sac State. Grau's three goals have each been game-winners, ranking t-8th nationally in GWGs.
THE DANISH INVASION
All three of Utah Valley's Danish players that have seen action have won a weekly Big West award this season. Toke Amtrup (Svendborg) was named Defensive POTW in Week 2 after a pair of shutout wins. Luca Wingaa Laursen (Kastrup) was named Rookie of the Week in Week 4 after helping UVU to an upset win at #20 Marshall. Oliver Watts (Frederiksberg) was named ROTW for Week 7 after scoring vs UC Irvine and assisting on a goal vs UC Santa Barbara.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will return to Orem for its final Big West home game of the regular season, hosting the CSUN Matadors at UCCU Stadium. Kickoff for the game is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 pm MDT, and will be the second half of a single-admission doubleheader with women’s soccer, who host UC Riverside at 5. Tickets can be purchased at GoUVU.com/GetTix.
