OREM—Utah Valley women's soccer returns to UCCU Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to host Sacramento State in Big West Conference action. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Utah Valley enters the match with a 9-4-3 overall record and remains unbeaten in its inaugural Big West season at 5-0-2. The Wolverines are tied with Cal State Fullerton atop the conference standings with 17 points, five ahead of UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego and CSUN, which each have 12 points. Sacramento State enters Wednesday's contest at 5-5-5 overall and 1-3-3 in Big West play.

The Wolverines have won three consecutive matches and are unbeaten in their last eight contests, posting a 6-0-2 record during the stretch. Utah Valley has outscored its opponents 22-6 during that span, including shutout victories over California Baptist and UC Riverside last week.

Utah Valley remains No. 1 in the Oct. 20 IWSOC Coaches Poll West Region Top 10, released in partnership with United Soccer Coaches. The Wolverines hold the top spot for the second consecutive week, followed by Cal State Fullerton, Oral Roberts, UC San Diego and Idaho. Seven Big West programs are represented in the regional rankings. Despite going 2-0-0 last week with a pair of shutouts, UVU dropped out of the national Top 25 poll's others receiving votes category after receiving six votes in the Oct. 13 poll.

Utah Valley is coming off a 3-0 shutout victory over UC Riverside on Saturday night at UCCU Stadium. Josie Clawson, Sadie Beardall and Kate Shirts each found the back of the net as the Wolverines outshot the Highlanders 15-3, including a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal. UVU also set a school single-match record with 20 corner kicks, while freshman goalkeeper Madeleine Boucher recorded her fifth shutout of the season.

Beardall and Shirts were rewarded for their performances last week, earning Big West Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, on Monday. Beardall recorded two goals and an assist for five points in the wins over California Baptist and UC Riverside, including the game-winning goal against the Lancers. Shirts anchored a defensive effort that allowed just eight combined shots and four shots on goal over the two matches. She also scored against UC Riverside.

Utah Valley enters Wednesday's match riding a 39-match regular-season conference unbeaten streak dating back to Oct. 8, 2022, when the Wolverines last lost a league contest at Seattle U. UVU has also gone 30 consecutive regular-season conference home matches without a loss, posting a 25-0-5 record during that stretch. The Wolverines' last home conference loss came against California Baptist on March 11, 2021.

Offensively, Utah Valley continues to rank among the nation's leaders in several statistical categories. The Wolverines rank ninth nationally in shots on goal per game (8.44), 13th in total assists (37), 15th in corner kicks per game (7.31), 16th in shots per game (17.63) and 22nd in total points (101). UVU leads The Big West in scoring offense (2.00), assists per game (2.31), points per game (6.31), shots per game (17.63) and shots on goal per game (8.44).

Senior forward Nixan Jackson leads Utah Valley with 20 points on five goals and 10 assists. Her 10 assists lead The Big West and rank third nationally, while her 0.63 assists per game rank ninth in the country. Jackson has recorded four goals and five assists through seven conference matches.

Senior forward Sadie Beardall leads the Wolverines with eight goals and ranks second on the team with 19 points. Seven of her eight goals have come in Big West play, including braces against Cal State Bakersfield and UC Irvine. Beardall has also recorded three game-winning goals this season. Senior midfielder Josie Clawson has added five goals, while senior forward Kate Booth has scored four times.

Defensively, Boucher has posted a 0.84 goals-against average and a .793 save percentage in 15 appearances. She owns a 9-2-3 record with 46 saves and five shutouts, including consecutive clean sheets against California Baptist and UC Riverside last week.

Sacramento State enters Wednesday's match having dropped two consecutive contests, falling 3-0 at UC San Diego on Oct. 14 and 1-0 at home to Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 17. The Hornets picked up their lone Big West victory with a 2-0 shutout of Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 10 and have also earned conference draws against UC Irvine, UC Riverside and Long Beach State.

The Hornets average 1.33 goals and 12.47 shots per match while allowing 1.33 goals per contest. Sacramento State leads The Big West in shot accuracy (.487) and ranks 50th nationally in saves per game (5.40) and 83rd in save percentage (.802).

Junior forward/midfielder Candace Ching leads Sacramento State with five goals, three assists and 13 points. Senior midfielder Ellie Farber and junior forward Mia Jackson each have three goals and one assist for seven points, while senior forward Lexi Schroeder has two goals and three assists for seven points. Junior goalkeeper Hayley Hartsburg has recorded 37 saves with a 1.46 goals-against average in seven appearances, while sophomore goalkeeper Delaney Timmons owns a 0.90 goals-against average and a .833 save percentage in six appearances.

Wednesday's match marks just the second all-time meeting between Utah Valley and Sacramento State and the first between the programs as Big West opponents. The Hornets won the only previous meeting, 4-3, on Oct. 28, 2003, in Sacramento. Wednesday will mark Sacramento State's first visit to Orem.

Utah Valley will return to the road on Saturday, Oct. 24, to take on UC Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, California. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT, with the match broadcast live on ESPN+.