Utah Tech men's soccer returns to Greater Zion Stadium for a pair of matches to open up 2022 Western Athletic Conference play. The Trailblazers will take on the Lopes from Grand Canyon on Friday at 7:30 before closing out the weekend against Air Force on Sunday at 1:30.

Utah Tech has a 2-10-0 all-time record against the Lopes and an 0-2-0 record against Air Force.

Quick Glance at Grand Canyon:  The Lopes have started off the year with a 3-4-1 record against some tough competition. The Lopes three wins came against Virginia Tech, No. 4 ranked UCLA, and Oakland. Additionally, the team drew No. 18 UC Santa Barbara 2-2 on the road. Most recently the Lopes saw a 4-1 defeat against No. 2 Washington. 

The Lopes were voted second in the 2022 WAC Preseason Poll and had two members voted to the All-WAC team, Shaun Joash and Rodolfo Prado. Joash was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year. 

The Lopes have scored 11 goals while allowing 15 in the opening eight matches of the season. The Trailblazers will look to find their first win against the Lopes since joining the WAC.

Quick Glance at Air Force: Air Force has started off the year with a 1-4-2 record in non-conference play. Their lone win of the year came against San Fransisco on Sept. 25. The team drew No. 3 Washington 1-1 in Seattle as well as played a 0-0 draw against No. 25 Missouri State back in early September. Four of the team's seven non-conference games were against ranked opponents. 

The Lopes were voted fifth in the 2022 WAC Preseason Poll. Additionally, the tema had one member, Rodolfo Prado, named to the 2022 All-WAC preseason team.

The Lopes have scored fives goals while allowing 11 in the opening eight matches of the season. The Trailblazers will look to find their first win against Air Force in institution history.

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.

Jonny Broadhead (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2004) is in his seventh season as Utah Tech head coach. Broadhead has a 39-47-4 overall record at Utah Tech.

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

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.

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.

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. 

GOAL BREAKDOWN:
The Trailblazers have scored three goals this season. The first coming 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 second goal in the 1-0 win over CSU Bakersfield after Tyson Nguyen sent a long ball over the top to Kyle Walbruch. Walbruch then slotted the ball towards Rogers who set up the ball on his left foot and hit a powerful shot past the Bakersfield goalkeeper.

Niko Shumov scored in the Trailblazers 1-0 win over Gonzaga. After earning a set piece just four minutes into the game, the Trailblazers were able to find the opening goal. Dunes Nielsen served the ball up and into an onrushing Niko Shumov. Shumov sent his left-footed shot past the Gonzaga goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.

Up Next: Utah Tech will head back out on the road for two more WAC matchups at UTRGV on Oct. 7 and Houston Baptist on Oct. 9. One of the Trailblazers three wins in the 2021 season came over Houston Baptist.