Dominant first half leads UVU over UTRGV.
UVU used a four-goal first half to propel them to a 4-1 victory over UTRGV on Saturday night. UVU will start a two-game raod trip this week.
Utah Valley Women’s Soccer used a four-goal first half to propel them to a 4-1 victory over UTRGV on Saturday night, improving to 6-3-4 on the season and 3-0-1 in conference play.
Coming off a 10-goal night on Thursday, UVU was looking to keep their hot streak against the Vaqueros.
In the 22nd minute, Heather Stainbrook sent a ball into the attacking third for senior forward Faith Webber, who was left one-on-one with the keeper. Webber fired a shot that reached the back of the net for her 13th goal of the season.
This led to an intense argument between UTRGV head coach Mark Foster and the line official who argued that Webber was offside.
Upon replay review, Webber did look to be offside but was awarded a goal without a replay review.
10 minutes later, Webber used a beautiful one-touch to give her enough space to fire a shot into the top of the goal to put the Wolverines up 2-0.
Webber’s goal tied the record for goals in a season, which was set by herself last season with 14.
“I think my goal this year was to be the best teammate I could be; I wasn’t thinking to myself that I need to score this many goals to be successful,” Webber said on tying the record. “I owe it all to my teammates and they make it really easy for me.”
But the Vaqueros were going to give Utah Valley a test.
UTRGV would send a ball into the box that was fielded well by keeper CJ Graham, but she landed on a Wolverine defender and lost control of the ball. The Vaqueros recovered possession and scored their first goal of the night.
In the 41st minute, freshman striker Nixan Jackson made a move inside the Vaquero defense and put the ball just past the keepers reach and scored her fourth goal in the last two halves of play.
“Nixan is super talented. Over the year she has gotten a lot more confident, she has showed who she really is,” Webber stated on Jackson.
“She is hitting her stride at a great time of the year, we knew she was going to be a big-time player,” Lemay said. “Nobody is surprised by the fact she is scoring. She is fast, athletic and she can finish.”
Utah Valley would keep the pressure on with just seconds left in the first half. Sydney Bushman and Nicole Olanda teamed up to put a ball in the box for Manthy Brady who scored as the clock ticked the 45 minute mark and UVU would go into the half up 4-1.
The second half started with a scary injury on the field for the Vaqueros.
In the 48th minute, Abbie Bailey took a deflected ball to the side of her head and dropped to the pitch instantly. It was unclear if Bailey was unconscious, but she did not move for nearly two minutes before walking off the field under her own power.
Bailey would check back into the game in the 62nd minute.
The rest of the second half was limited with little action after the injury.
Utah Valley put up 34 shots, the second most in the Chris Lemay era, with 21 of them coming on target. This led to UTRGV keeper Anais Van Doesburg saving 16 shots, allowing four.
Utah Valley will start a two-game road trip as they head to Stephenville, Texas to take on Tarleton on Oct. 5, then Abilene Christan on Oct. 8.
“It’s our last road trip before the tournament so we are going to try and go out to get six points,” Lemay said on the upcoming road slate.
Following the short road trip, the Wolverines will return home for a three-game home stand to end conference play.
All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Nathan Dunn is the Copy Editor for the UVU Review. After three years at Utah State, Nathan is majoring in Public Relations and Digital Media at Utah Valley University. In his free time, Nathan likes to watch all sports but mostly college football. Nathan works hard to give the best content to UVU fans, media, and students.