Orem, UT –
The Utah Valley University men’s and women’s soccer teams were the closing acts of homecoming week in their matches on Saturday evening, Sept. 28. The Wolverines faithful were out in full force to help protect The Den as they watched both the men and women win their games.
“We had a tremendous crowd tonight on homecoming for both the women’s game and the men’s game tonight,” said UVU men’s head coach Greg Maas. “I was really excited, obviously they gave us a lot of energy and our guys love to play here on Clyde Field in front of our Den.”
The UVU women’s team got the evening started, taking on North Dakota State University in what was their final non-conference game of 2019. In a back-and-forth offensive affair with two goals apiece in the first half, the Wolverines ended up coming out on top by a score of 3-2.
The defining moment came in the second half with UVU vying for a game-winning goal with less than five minutes to play. Who answered the call for the Wolverines? Ms. game-winner herself, sophomore forward Julianna Carter. She now has two game-winners in the 86th minute or later this season.
“Juli Carter’s been hot for us and scores another good goal,” said UVU women’s head coach Chris Lemay. “It was probably harder than we wanted it to be, but we grinded it out and we got the result that we wanted and we’re excited about how our non-conference segment went.”
With the women taking care of business, it was the men’s turn to finish off the homecoming sweep.
The UVU men’s team had their first WAC foe of the season come to town, Houston Baptist University. This was the first WAC game for both teams on the year. UVU was able to tally an early penalty kick goal in the 21st minute by senior midfielder Luis Vargas, and they never looked back, winning by a score of 3-0.
Senior forward Blake Frischknecht was the standout of the night, scoring his fifth goal of the season — which ties him for the conference lead— and getting five shots on goal out of eight shots total for the team.
Overall, homecoming Saturday was a success with the clean sweep. The men and women both now head out on the road to continue and start conference play. The men head to Texas to take on UT Rio Grande Valley on Friday, Oct. 4. As for the women, they’ll head west to California to face-off with California State University, Bakersfield on Sunday, Oct. 6.
