UVU Women blank in-state rival Utah State

Record crowd helps propel Wolverines to victory

Christian Ledek | Sports writer | @sea_led

Photos credit: Gabi Campbell | Art Director | @gabicampbellphotos 

OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University women’s soccer team persevered in a hard fought game to top in-state rival Utah State 1-0 before a record crowd of 2,790 on Friday night at Clyde Field.

The Wolverines are now 2-0-0 at home this season and 2-1-0 overall. It also marks the second straight shutout for UVU.

It was back and forth the entire game, but UVU was able to get the game’s only goal from a set piece.

“I think we were a bit more focused today,” UVU Head Coach Brent Anderson said. “We put together a game plan and we asked the team to focus and execute.”

Sophomore Tori Smith put the only goal in the game in the back of the net. It came when junior Melanie Ostler had a free kick from 25 yards outside of the box in the 81st minute. Smith was able to get behind the Aggie defense and used her head to hit the game-winning goal.

The Aggies had their chances to score and make it interesting. In the 39th minute, sophomore Wesley Hamblin fired a shot from inside the six-yard box that was on a tight angle. Senior goalkeeper Jessica Duffin was able to make herself big and make the save.

In the closing two minutes of the game, Utah State was awarded a corner kick that was headed towards the goal in a mix of both Aggie and Wolverine players. Duffin came up big with a save, diving full stretch to her left and preventing the Aggies from tying the game.

“Both teams had some good chances,” Utah State Coach Cairns said. “We weren’t able to capitalize…you had a feeling someone was going to score with the game being wide open.”

The Wolverines will see if they can stay unbeaten at home on Sunday when they take on the Grizzlies of Montana. The game starts at 11 a.m. and is at Clyde Field.