With the United Soccer Conference(USC) tournament being played on campus the women’s soccer team is trying to make the most of what has been a tough season.
It’s been a rough road at times this season but playing the tournament gives the Wolverines a chance to turn things around a bit. And by beating New Jersey Institute of Technology 3-0 in the semifinals, the team’s season looks a little different.
The win gave Utah Valley a shot at the conference championship in a rematch against Longwood on Sunday.
Forward Jenni Clough netted two goals in the win and is happy to have a tournament to play in.
"We’re fortunate Howard University put this whole thing together," Clough said. "We can go out on a good note to end the season even though we’ve struggled this year."
Playing other USC teams was a different story in both the season and the tournament. Utah Valley went 4-1 in USC play and its only loss came against Longwood.
Now, with the tournament, the team had a chance to win something more than a few games but also had games to change the team philosophy a bit.
"I can get too uptight and it rubs off on the team," Utah Valley coach Brent Anderson said. "We wanted to keep more relaxed today and keep loose."
Whatever they say, it helped to be playing NJIT as well. Utah Valley pounded this same team 5-0 in October for its first home win of the season.
It was all smiles on the sideline for both Utah Valley players and coaches in the first half as Adrienne Schneider gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead 22 minutes into the game. Clough scored her first goal shortly after on an assist for Schneider. Clough’s second goal in the second half also came on an assist from Schneider.
"We asked or midfielders to be more creative and penetrate, and Adrienne did a great job at that," Anderson said.
Utah Valley goalie Mallory Schott, in goal most of the game, and Hailey Brown combined for the team’s third shutout of the season.
