Utah Valley concludes its season-opening homestand with a first-ever meeting with the Central Arkansas Bears on Monday afternoon.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. MDT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Brice Larson and Amber Tripp on the call. The game is the first match of a single-admission doubleheader with Wolverine women’s soccer, who will host Utah State at 7:30.
GAME DAY INFO
MATCHUP: Utah Valley (1-0-0, 0-0 BW) vs Central Arkansas (0-0-1, 0-0 ASUN)
KICKOFF: 5 p.m. MDT
GATES OPEN: 4 p.m. MDT
TICKETS: GoUVU.com/GetTix
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoUVU.com/stats
UTAH VALLEY GAME NOTES
CENTRAL ARKANSAS GAME NOTES
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Valley opened the season with a 2-1 win over Pacific on Thursday behind goals from Naime Odeh and Jose Montealegre. For Odeh, it was the first goal of his collegiate career after missing nearly the entire 2025 season due to injury. Odeh had two assists as a freshman in 2024.
Montealegre was the top attacking threat all night, leading the team with 5 shots, including the game-winning goal in the 77th minute. It was the second GWG of his career after netting the winner last season vs San Jose State.
Owen Knecht made an instant impact in his first game post-mission. Knecht had the primary assist on Montealegre's GWG, nodding a header back across the face of goal off a cross from Noah Pogue. Nil Grau, UVU's top returning point-scorer from 2025 (5G/2A) got on the scoresheet with an assist on Odeh's opener, cutting in from the right wing to tee up Odeh near the penalty spot.
Jackson Medina picked up an assist in his first start as a Wolverine, sending a perfectly-weighted ball over the top for Grau on the opener. For Medina, it's the team's first GK assist since 2019 when Mitch Jensen assisted on Blake Frischknecht's then-record-breaking 10th goal of the season. All three of UVU's top returning point scorers — Grau, Pogue, and Montealegre — registered a point in Thursday's win.
Utah Valley continued its suffocating style of play from last season, holding a decisive 19-7 edge in shots, with a 7-1 advantage in SOG. UVU has been equal or greater in total shots in 20 of the team's last 23 games dating back to the 2024 season.
With Thursday's win, Utah Valley improves to 13-0 all-time in home openers and 12-0-1 in season openers. The Wolverines also bettered their already-impressive record in the month of August, moving to 17-1-3 over the team's 13 seasons of existence.
SERIES HISTORY VS UCA
Utah Valley faces the Bears for the first time ever in men’s soccer and just the second time in any team sport. The only other time the Wolverines have played UCA was a 2015 women’s soccer game at Clyde Field, with UVU coming away 2-0 winners.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
UCA drew 1-1 with the Drake Bulldogs on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Maxim Sheenkov, the team’s leading returning goalscorer, netted the game-tying goal in the 79th minute.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will hit the road for the first time during the regular season, traveling to the Bay Area to face the Santa Clara Broncos on Sunday, August 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MDT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
