OREM, Utah — Trevor Walk scored his first goal of the season and Jackson Medina made three saves as the Wolverine defense kept its fifth clean sheet of the season, topping the CSUN Matadors, 1-0 on Saturday night at UCCU Stadium
With the win, Utah Valley secured home field advantage in the semifinals of The Big West championships on Nov. 7. The Wolverines could clinch at least a share next Saturday if UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara play to a draw in Irvine.
Utah Valley had the bulk of the offensive pressure in the opening moments, with three corner kicks in the opening eight minutes. Dan McKay and Nil Grau each had shots saved in the first 10 minutes.
Walk broke the deadlock in the 28th minute off a feed from Adem Arous. CSUN keeper Bryan Castaneda came off his line to corral the ball, but Walk was able to chip his shot around him as it trickled into the net. Walk is the 19th different player to contribute to a goal this season.
Medina made his first save of the night in the 37th minute on a tame effort from Dave-Ryan Tankou. Medina made two more saves in quick succession in the 66th and 68th minute, with the latter being a diving save that clipped off the post and behind for a corner.
A tense and chippy game nearly reached a breaking point in the 75th minute as Grau was shown a red for a forearm near the head of the Matadors' Messiah Antwi. After a VAR review, the card was downgraded to a yellow, meaning Grau will now have to sit out the Wolverines' next match on Wednesday at San Diego State.
Following the yellow, CSUN had just one blocked shot over the final 15 minutes.
Utah Valley will now head to San Diego to face off with former WAC rival San Diego State in the team's second of three Pac-12 crossover matches. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MDT, and the game will be streamed on the Pac-12 YouTube channel.
