(St. George, Utah – Oct. 1, 2023) Utah Tech women's soccer was in action Sunday afternoon, playing the Grand Canyon Lopes to a 1-1 draw at Greater Zion Stadium. With the result, UT is now 5-4-4 on the season and unbeaten in its last six games, a stretch that includes three victories and three draws.
 
"We knew this was a very good Grand Canyon team. They're athletic, strong, and attack really well," Head Coach Lexi Brown said. "They have a player who's in the top-five in the country for goal scoring so shutting her down and being strong defensively was really important for us.
 
"Gianna is an amazing player but we also knew if we could shut them down defensively we'd have a good chance in this game," sophomore Ella Carmody said. "We all came in with the mindset that we're not going to take a loss today, so we all stepped up, every person who was on the field did their job defensively and it led us to the tie."
 
Carmody returned to the starting eleven as Utah Tech wasted no time in this one, with Emily Garbett forcing a save just eight minutes in after finding space from outside the box and unleashing a shot from range. After Brianna Frey would keep the game level with a pair of saves in the 11^th and 12^th minutes, Utah Tech found momentum which led to the breakthrough.
 
Garbett played an in-swinging corner kick, Gracie Knutzen headed the ball across the face of goal and Brynlee Rider hammered it home for her fifth goal of the season to put Utah Tech ahead in the 25^th minute. Rider, who has scored in three of her last four appearances, is now up to five goals and five assists on the season.
 
Grand Canyon ramped up the pressure and looked to have found the leveler in the 33^rd minute after catching Frey off her line, but Carmody came flying back and saved the shot off the line to preserve that 1-0 lead, which held to the halftime break.
 
The Lopes found their leveler early in the second half, tapping in a rebound off a Frey save in the 53^rd minute.
 
Bryanna Hofheins entered the game in the 55^th minute and would step up in a big way down the stretch for Utah Tech. The Salem, Utah native made all four of her saves during a six-minute period of action from the 71^st through 77^th minutes, keeping the game level at one.
 
Though GCU continued to find looks, UT continued to block shots, and the game went final at 1-1.
 
"I'm really proud of the way our defense stepped up today," Coach Brown said. "Both our center backs and several of our outside backs had blocked shots and goal line saves, so it was everything you want to see in a defensive performance."
 
Though the visitors held a 23-10 advantage in shots, Utah Tech's defense accounted for nine blocked shots – including seven in the second half alone. Both teams would take seven corner kicks as the Trailblazers committed just five fouls.
 
Rider (three) along with Tessa Thornton (two) and Kearney Hoggan (two) would finish with multiple shots, while Frey (two) and Hofheins (four) combined to make six saves.
 
Trailblazer women's soccer is back in action next weekend, facing Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV on the road.