Utah Tech men's soccer prepares to hit the road for a pair of conference matchups versus UTRGV and Houston Christian.

The Trailblazers return 14 members to this years squad with 17 new freshmen joining the team. Returning are captains Julian Herrera and Larsen Rogers joined by Traedon Chamberlain, Blaine Chambers, Gavin Coe, Jimi Villasenor, Raul Ruiz, AJ Ciampini, Guglielmo Bianchi, Ethan Bell, Adrian Galindo and Niko Shumov.

With the Trailblazers next win they will have tied their record for the most successful WAC campaign in university history. In each of the two prior years the team has improved its record on the year. The team improved from three wins to four between the first and second year and look to do the same again in the 2022 season.

Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004) is in his sixth season as Utah Tech head coach. Broadhead has a 40-48-4 overall record at Utah Tech.

Last Season In the WAC: Utah Tech men's soccer finished the 2021 season with a 4-13-1 record, with 2-7-1 in WAC place for a ninth place finish. Utah Tech took wins over UC San Diego, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word and UNLV.

Trailblazers Picked 9th In the WAC: Utah Tech was voted to finish 9th in the WAC men's soccer preseason coaches' poll released on August 17th. Seattle U was picked first with eight first place votes. The Trailblazers did not have any members selected to the 2022 Preseason All-WAC team.

Know Your Foe: Utah Tech men's soccer head back out on the road for a trip to Texas. The Trailblazers will take on the Vaqueros of UTRGV on Friday, Oct. 7 before heading to Houston for a matchup with Houston Christian on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Quick Glance at UTRGV:  The Lopes have started off the year with a 2-5-2 record. The Vaqueros two wins came against Omaha and Bryant. UTRGV started the first week of WAC play going 0-2 against Seattle U and San Jose State. 

UTRGV was voted seventh in the 2022 WAC Preseason Poll. They had no members of their team named to the Preseason All-WAC team.

The Vaqueros have scored 11 goals while allowing 18 in the opening nine matches of the season. The Trailblazers suffered a 3-0 home loss in their last meeting with the Vaqueros and look to avenge that result with a road win this weekend.

Quick Glance at Houston Christian: Air Force has started off the year with a 5-3-3 record on the season. The Huskies saw wins against Seattle, Howard Payne, Eastern Illinois and Cal Poly.  The Huskies have gone 1-0-1 in conference play so far with the win over Seattle and a draw against San Jose State.

The Lopes were voted 10th in the 2022 WAC Preseason Poll. They had no members of their team voted to the All-WAC team.

The Huskies have scored 26 goals while allowing 12 in the opening 11 matches of the season. The Trailblazers head into this matchup undefeated in institution history and look to add another win to their tally.

Postseason Tournament Eligibility: As of Summer 2022 the WAC Board of Directors voted as of the 2022-23 season to allow newcomers to the WAC, Tarleton State and Utah Tech, to compete for all conference tournaments. 

100TH NCAA WIN: In the Trailblazers' 1-0 win over Gonzaga, the team surpassed the 100 win mark. The Trailblazer's now hold a 100-126-21 record in the Utah Tech NCAA era. 

GOAL BREAKDOWN:
The Trailblazers have scored five goals this season. The first came from forward Taylor Rogers. The goal, caused by mistimed pass after a press on a disheveled Marquette backline found the ball at Rogers' feet, was the freshman's first goal of his collegiate career.

Larsen Rogers scored the team's lone goal in the 1-0 win over CSU Bakersfield after Tyson Nguyen sent a long ball over the top to Kyle Walbruch who slotted the ball on to Rogers who sent it home.

Niko Shumov scored in the Trailblazers 1-0 win over Gonzaga. Off a setpiece, Shumov sent his left-footed shot past the Gonzaga goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.

Carlos Vargas and Gavin Coe each found their first career goals in the Trailblazers 2-1 win over Grand Canyon. Vargas got the ball ahead of the last defender and slalomed around the keeper for his goal. Coe's goal came off a quick touch to turn himself around and a one-time shot to the far post.

Up Next: Utah Tech will return home for two conference matchups with Seattle and San Jose State on Oct. 14 and 16. This will be the second to last home stand of the 2022 season.