OREM, Utah — Jose Luis Martin Montealegre scored his second goal of the season and Kolby Sessions made three saves as Utah Valley remained unbeaten with a 1-1 draw to the Omaha Mavericks on Thursday night at UCCU Stadium.
The Wolverines and Mavericks were evenly matched most of the night, but Omaha had the most dangerous of the scoring chances, holding a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal. Utah Valley played the final 23 minutes of the match a man down after Nil Grau was shown a second yellow in the 67th minute.
Sessions was called into action in the sixth minute as Maguire Perkins spun free in the attacking third, but his curling shot was tipped behind for a corner. Sessions made his second save about 90 seconds later on a low effort by Mikey Stukenholtz.
Grau was shown his first yellow in the 25th minute after a lengthy video review.
Utah Valley got shots away in the 30th and 44th minutes, but Max Palmer's header went wide left and Mason Abdella's long-range effort was blocked.
Omaha scored first after being retroactively awarded a penalty in the 58th minute. Toke Amtrup was called for a foul on Derek Johnson, with Brett Perkins converting the spot kick.
The Wolverines weren't behind for long, netting an equalizer just nine minutes later. Grau cut toward the end line and laid it back for Abdella, whose deflected effort struck woodwork and went almost straight up. Montealegre was able to box out his man and head home the goal from a few feet out.
The euphoria quickly turned into frustration as Grau was shown his second yellow just eight seconds after the ensuing restart for a shove on Stukenholtz.
Despite playing a man down, the Wolverines held most of the possession down the stretch. The lone shot on goal was a tame effort in the 76th minute that went right at Sessions.
Utah Valley will now face by far its toughest test of the young season, traveling to West Virginia to face the No. 15 Marshall Thundering Herd. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. MT, and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
