The Utah Valley Women’s Soccer team fell to No. 19 Clemson on Thursday, Aug. 24 2-0 and moved to 1-1-1 on the season.
The first half did not feature much action as the teams drew 0-0. The Wolverines were stagnant on offense, attempting one shot to the Tigers’ four.
Sixth-year senior Idalia Serrano recorded two saves in the first half, including a diving stop late in the half to keep the score tied.
Junior forward Faith Webber, who has scored three goals in the early season, recorded just 32 minutes in the first half before being subbed out.
Webber later returned to start the second half.
The second half started with a Clemson goal in the 48th minute which meant the Wolverines had to come from behind if they wanted to knock off the nationally ranked Tigers. This goal put the Wolverines behind for the first time in the early season.
But Utah Valley would not go down without an offensive presence in the second half.
Utah Valley had a chance in the 51st minute to even things up as forward Manthy Brady put a ball in position for Webber to finish but did not have the angle to get it past the keeper as she was quickly crowded with Clemson defenders.
Shortly after Brady then had her own opportunity after a beautiful throw in form Ruby Hladek put her in a spot to finish the header but went just wide of the goalpost.
Clemson keeper Halle Mackiewicz then displayed two incredible diving saves within just minutes that kept the Wolverines scoreless.
“I thought we came back slowly,” head coach Chris Lemay said. “We created what could have been three goals, but unfortunately their keeper had some good saves. It changed the intensity of the half for sure.”
Despite having a fair share of chances in the second half, the Wolverines comeback hopes diminished as the Tigers broke open and scored the second goal of the half in the 86th minute and daggered the Wolverines.
“I thought that was the best performance we have had all year. Clemson is a good team, but I am happy with the performance but not the result,” Lemay said. “The players left it out on the field tonight.”
Utah Valley had six shots with four on goal. However, the Tigers had 12 shots on goal and five shots on goal including seven corner kicks which proved to be the difference maker in the game.
The Wolverines will look towards Idaho State when they travel to Pocatello on Sunday, Aug. 25 before traveling to Salt Lake to take on Utah on Aug. 30.
UVU will return to Clyde Field to take on cross-town rival No. 11 BYU on Saturday Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
