Utah Valley Women’s Soccer defeated in-state foe Southern Utah, securing its second consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship.
Predicted, but still sweet.
Utah Valley was projected to win the WAC title in the preseason coaches poll, even though it came down to the last game, Utah Valley finished with 23 points and a 7-0-2 conference record.
UVU got started early, scoring in just the second minute after senior Sydney Bushman crossed a ball to a heading Heather Stainbrook who notched her 12th goal of the season.
Despite starting hot, Utah Valley cooled off and did not seem to play their best soccer in the last half of the first 45 minutes.
“We were terrible in the first half,” head coach Chris Lemay said. “We created a lot more chances in the second half.”
But it was stress free from the second half on.
Utah Valley would score in the 47th minute of the second half, again by Stainbrook who finishes with 13 goals on the season, which would have been one shy of the record if it were not for Faith Webber.
In the 67th minute, sophomore Taylor Nelson was left alone with the keeper who got around her defender, sending the ball to the back of the net and starting the ringing bells for Utah Valley.
“Taylor is a great player and has done a lot for us this year. I am very happy to see her score,” Lemay said.
“It feels awesome, and it felt like an out-of-body experience for me,” Nelson said. “We must know to show up for every game and play how we know how to play.”
The 3-0 cushion was enough as Utah Valley would let time expire, and head into the WAC tournament as the No. 1 seed.
The second consecutive outright WAC title, the third shared in the last four seasons.
It has been a dynasty for Lemay and Utah Valley, appearing in the WAC Tournament Championship in four straight years.
“It is what we set out to do. We divide the season into three parts and now it is the most exciting time of the year in the postseason,” Lemay said. “We feel great right now and we are going to take these next eight days to prepare.”
Looking to make it a fifth straight, Utah Valley will start the WAC tournament as the one seed, beginning play on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in Riverside, California.
Utah Valley will face the winner of Grand Canyon and Utah Tech, who UVU beat 4-0 and 7-0 earlier this season.
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