Fall season rewind: men’s and women’s soccer
The men’s and women’s soccer teams have completed their 2022 seasons. Many Wolverines earned all-conference and all-district academic honors.
The Wolverine women’s soccer squad had a historic 2022 season. The Wolverines placed first in the WAC in the regular season, earning themselves the WAC regular season title as well as the #1 seed in the WAC Tournament.
Along the way, the Wolverines defeated UCCU Crosstown Clash rival #13 Brigham Young University on the road in a convincing 4-2 victory. This was the Wolverines’ first win over BYU in women’s soccer in program history as well as the highest-ranked opponent the Wolverines have ever beaten. Four Wolverines scored in the contest in a total team victory.
The Wolverines also claimed a 2-0 Old Hammer Rivalry win on Senior Night against Utah Tech University, completing their sweep of in-state opponents. In addition to wins over BYU and UTU, the Wolverines defeated Weber State 5-1 and Southern Utah 5-0.
In the WAC Tournament, the Wolverines, made their way to the WAC Tournament Championship game by means of a double-overtime comeback win against Grand Canyon in the semi-final round. The Wolverines fell behind 2-0 in the first half but scored two second-half goals, including a last-minute equalizer from Jenna Shepherd. In the second overtime period, the Wolverines scored an improbable 107th-minute goal to prevent penalty kicks and clinch the win. After defeating GCU, the Wolverines dropped the WAC Championship Game 1-0 to New Mexico State. However, the Wolverines earned their first at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament in program history. The Wolverines would fall to Rival BYU 3-0 in their first game of the tournament.
After such a successful season the Wolverines nearly swept the WAC Postseason Awards winning three of the four major awards. Head coach Chris Lemay won WAC Coach of the Year, Heather Strainbrook won WAC Offensive Player of the Year and Jenna Shepherd took home WAC Defensive player of the year. Stainbrook and Shepherd joined teammates Sydney Bushman, Hannah Lee, and Faith Webber on the All-WAC First Team. Julianna Carter made her appearance on the All-WAC Second Team while Haley Richardson, Leah Wolf and Taylor Nelson earned Freshman All-WAC honors.
The Men’s soccer program had a rebuilding year, finishing the season just around .500 at 7-7-1. The regular season featured a scoreless draw against #5 Oregon State and a 2-1 win against the eventual WAC Tournament Champion California Baptist Lancers.
The Wolverines ended the regular season strong as they rallied to win their final three games against Utah Tech (1-0), the University of Nevada Las Vegas, (4-0) and CBU (2-1).
With that win streak, the Wolverines managed to push their way into the WAC Tournament Quarterfinals. They ended up losing 3-1 to CBU, sufficiently ending the Wolverines’ season.
To top the season off senior defender Nico Torres and sophomore midfielder Alejandro Silva were named to the All-WAC First Team. Sophomore midfielder Diego Castillo was named Second Team ALL-WAC. Owen Knecht was named WAC Freshman of the Year and headlined the three Wolverines named to the WAC All-Freshman team. Midfielder Mark Andros and goalkeeper Landon Carter also received the nod. Castillo, Mateo Palomino, Jason Smith, Aaron Nixon and Carter Johnson were named 2022 Academic All-District.
Josh is a senior at UVU, studying Communications and graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Communications in Spring 2023. Along with writing for the Review, Josh is a member of UVU’s PRSSA Chapter. Josh will be pursuing sports media after his time at UVU is complete.