Utah Valley draws with California Baptist 1-1, tournament hopes decided on Monday
UVU and Cal Baptist drew 1-1 on Thrusday night, meaning the Wolverines need to tie or win against Grand Canyon to secure a tournament spot.
The University of Utah Valley Men’s Soccer team (3-6-6, 2-2-3) hosted California Baptist University (6-5-4, 4-1-2) Thursday night in a hard fought game from both sides that ended in a 1-1 draw.
With WAC tournament aspirations on the line, the Wolverines needed to draw or win to keep hopes alive.
Utah Valley once again had plenty of chances to score as they recorded five shots on goal that were all saved by goalkeeper Nolan Premack. On the other end, Parker Allen showed up for Utah Valley with six key saves that kept the Wolverines in it.
“All in all, very pleased with the way the guys played,” head coach Kyle Beckerman said. “Thought they played really hard, but unfortunately got unlucky in the end ending in a draw”
Early on, Utah Valley pieced together many defensive stops but were unfortunate in the 24th minute after Luis Mueller for the Lancers capitalized off a penalty kick to get them in front 1-0.
Throughout the entire half UVU was rewarded with 7 corner kicks and six free kicks within striking distance but were unable to capitalize.
“It’s always about performance and how the whole team plays together,” Beckerman added. “I thought we got the better of them today but at the end of the day goals change games.”
With the second half starting 1-0 in favor CBU, the Wolverines came out aggressive scoring in the first two minutes of the half, but it was taken off the board due to a penalty before the shot
UVU continued to stay aggressive getting three more chances on goal and fortunately was awarded with a penalty kick in the 63rd minute. Alejandro Silva took the shot for UVU as he started high, shifted left and came downhill to fire the ball right down the middle into the back of the net.
Silva knotted it up for the Wolverines 1-1
With the momentum shifting their way, Utah Valley continued to apply pressure which led to more opportunities on goal but unfortunately couldn’t get one to go.
The intensity proceeded until the clock reached the final minute
UVU was rewarded a point in the WAC that keeps their tournament hopes alive, remaining in 6th place. With only six teams taking a trip to Las Vegas, Utah Valley will need to either draw or win in their following match against GCU to qualify.
Utah Valley will face Grand Canyon at home, Monday Oct 30 at 6 P.M.
This game will air live and can be watched on ESPN+.
Kaleb Dyer is a Senior Staff writer for the UVU Review. Kaleb was born and raised in Draper, Utah and is majoring in communications with a minor in journalism. In his free time, Kaleb loves watching all sports but mostly college football and basketball. He loves writing for Utah Valley sports page and his dream is to one day become a sports broadcaster and/or journalist.