THE DESERT TOUR CONTINUES
A Wolverine is defined by its tenacious ferocity and strength, and so far in the postponed Spring 2021 season, the Utah Valley women’s soccer team has played true to form. Last week the Wolverines (4-1-2, 3-1-0) lassoed the Aggies and branded them with 6 goals in two games, winning Thursday’s contest 2-0, then following up with an emphatic 4-0 hogtying on Saturday. Due to inclement weather in the area, both matches were held on the RSL academy campus up in Herriman and despite the change of venues, Coach Lemay’s squad played as if they were home at Clyde field. “The Texan,” Julie Carter, has looked more like Annie Oakley this season as she’s plucked off opposing defenses and goalies one by one as if she were shooting tin cans off the top of a fence. Carter, who had the opening goal on Thursday, added an assist and another goal on Saturday, brining her season goal total to three. Her partner in crime up top, Sadie Brockbank, had a brace in the first half on Saturday as she added her third and team-leading fourth goal of the season in the stat books. But I will say that this weekend provided some great moments from some of the new faces on the team as well.
Utah transfer Anna Pickering might’ve had her coming our party last week. Her goal on Thursday night (second on the season), which came off a beautifully placed ball from freshman standout Lily Haskins that split the Aggie backline and hit Pickering right in stride, was pure poetry in motion. It was almost as if she let out a sigh of relief, and although her name didn’t show up in the stat sheet on Saturday as having scored any goals, she was a tremendous catalyst as to how the Wolverines were able to score with her ball handling, speed, and precision passing. The freshman London Miller saw more solid minutes, and it was her divine flick of the ball on Thursday night that found a racing Heather Stainbrook outside the box whose shot was deflected but ended up making its way to Carter for the goal. Miller’s fearlessness on her attacks is a trait most freshmen do not have, and it’s exciting to see somebody so young look so poised amongst defensive pressure. Team captain, Amber Tripp got her first goal of the season Saturday off a penalty kick when Julie Carter was fouled in the box in the 77th min. Chris Lemay had six reasons to be excited this weekend for sure, but there was something else that stood out to the 4th year head coach even more.
“I thought we played well on Thursday and then to come back and do it again against the same team on Saturday is big,” said Lemay. “We had a strategy and a game plan and things we wanted to accomplish on the weekend, and we did that. We’ve created a lot of chances already this season, but this weekend we were able to finish and get six goals and concede zero.” Brooklyn Nielsen and Isabel Jones-Dawe combined to shutout the Aggies in 180 total minutes last week, with a handful of saves a piece. Now the Wolverines set their sights on their Lone Star foe, the Vaqueros of UTRGV.
ABOUT LOS VAQUEROS
UT Rio Grande Valley holds a 4-1-2 overall record this season and a 1-1-1 mark in WAC play. The Vaqueros had an impressive start to their season as they went 3-1-0 in non-conference play with wins over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word, and UTSA, all on the road. UTRGV then opened WAC play with a 0-1-1 record against defending league champion Seattle U. The Vaqueros most recently picked up a 2-0 win over Chicago State and now hold a 1-1-2 record at home and a perfect 3-0 mark on the road. Senior forward Gina Steiner leads the team in scoring with three goals and also has an assist for a seven-point total. Four other Vaqueros have one goal apiece. As a team, UTRGV has seven goals while allowing just three. Redshirt junior Maile Lunardi has played all seven matches in the box, picking up 29 saves with a .906 save percentage. This matchup will be the sixth time these two programs will have met on the pitch. The Wolverines own an all-time 4-1-0 lead in the series and UVU’s first loss to the Vaqueros came during the 2018 season with a 3-1 setback in Edinburg on Sept. 30, 2018, which, ironically, is the last time the two teams met in Edinburg. The Wolverines look like they’re coming to form and having fun, but the Vaqueros are always well-coached and you never know what can happen on the road.
HOW TO WATCH
Thursday’s match will be broadcasted live on the WAC Digital Network at 6 PM mountain time. Watch here: https://www.wacdigitalnetwork.com/?bfplayvid=242888
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