UVU’s Clough leads by example

Jenni Clough, UVU’s leading scorer in women’s soccer, made her first goal not on a field of grass but on a field of turf — that is, she started playing soccer on an indoor soccer field. Jenni was invited by a friend who wanted her to play indoor soccer with her. “After that I never stopped playing. I played one year of indoor and went crazy after that,” Clough said.

Jenni, a senior this year, played soccer for 11 years after her friend invited her to play soccer. She has not just been scoring, but she has been scoring when it counts the most. Her coach, Brent Anderson, said of her, “She is our Michael Jordan. She is a player that the team counts on, and she puts a lot of pressure on herself, but she comes through for us.”

Finding the net easily as a forward, Clough is a natural scorer. “She wants to win in anything she does,” Anderson said. “And she finds a way to win.”

Humble and honest, Clough never knew she broke the record for most goals as a Wolverine. “I honestly didn’t know I was even close to breaking a record,” Clough said. “It was nice not to know about the record because there was no pressure.” Now, being singled out as one of the best players for UVU, she sets her goals high. She plans not to put the record out of reach, but wants to have it stand for a year or two.

Last year Clough was named conference and tournament MVP, giving UVU its first United Soccer Conference Championship. Her dominance on the field is apparent and individually with the team. “I often see her with individual players and they go to her for advice, or she sees something that could help a player,” Anderson said. “She sees something that could help a teammate — in just a few words, she can build that player up and make a correction and it motivates that player.”

Jenni has mixed feelings about finishing her soccer career at UVU. She says she might be bored after constantly playing for 11 straight years of soccer. Though she is optimistic, she plans to graduate from UVU in exercise science and coach basketball. If she had an opportunity to coach soccer, she would coach soccer, but finds her niche as a basketball coach.

“I see those good coaching qualities in what she does with the team. I think she can be very successful as a coach.” Anderson said. “I am really glad I have the opportunity to come to (UVU) and coach her. She is a coach’s dream. She works very hard and sets the standard for the team. She holds herself to a higher standard than the other players would. The younger players see that and see how she trains and she just is a great example for them. She has great grades and studies hard.”