Utah Valley University finished off their California road trip on Sunday afternoon taking on Santa Clara University. The Wolverines didn’t bring much fight though, and the Broncos couldn’t be tamed. As they took it to UVU by a score of 5-0.
After a close, hard fought extra time loss to San Jose State on Friday night the Wolverines looked tired and a bit sloppy on the field Sunday. UVU also lost a key player in Friday’s defeat, in senior goalkeeper Allie Jara. Which, in short, was a key reason why the score was so lopsided in this one.
With Jara out, it would be freshman keeper Saydee Bacdad getting her first career start in goal. A start she may want to learn from and forget quickly. The Broncos got on the board quickly in third minute on a goal from freshman midfielder Izzy D’Aquila.
D’Aquila is no typical freshman for SCU, as that goal put her at six already on the early season. D’Aquila also has two assists to go along with 14 total points for the Broncos.
The Wolverine defense would have time to catch their breath, but not before SCU would go on to score another first half goal. In the 25th minute Broncos senior defender Machaela George would net her first goal of 2019.
The second half would include more goals for the Broncos. The next two coming via a brace by junior forward Kelsey Turnbow in the 52nd and 64th minutes.
The final goal of the 5-0 route came in the 73rd minute by junior midfielder Kaitlyn Parcell. As a result, this is SCU’s highest-scoring game of the 2019 season thus far.
This is the Wolverines worst loss in four seasons. As they lost 6-0 in 2015 to San Diego State University on the road. What’s the significance of that loss? Well for instance, the Wolverines still went on to make the NCAA tournament by seasons end — even with a lopsided loss.
To sum it up, this game was a big learning experience for UVU and their young goalkeeper. But, it is also still undecided when Jara will return for the Wolverines. So, in short, Bacdad will have plenty of room for improvement going forward.
The positive from this game is that the Wolverines now get to go home for three straight games. Where they will hope to bounce back as they take on the University of Texas-El Paso on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. MST.
Photo courtesy of Rey Del Rio
