(St. George, Utah – Oct. 15, 2023) Utah Tech men's soccer played Sunday afternoon, defeating the Air Force Falcons 3-2 at Greater Zion Stadium. The result puts UT back above .500 on the year with three games remaining in the season.
 
"We knew we had what it takes to beat Air Force. They're a good team but they're on a stretch of some bad luck and we knew our mentality was strong," Head Coach Jonny Broadhead said. "When we went down a goal… I was not surprised that we responded because we've already done it multiple times this year.
 
"The resilient mentality of the guys to come back again, that hasn't come easy. That's several years of heartbreak and looking ourselves in the mirror about how we get better and get through this stuff," Broadhead added. "All credit to the guys - they just keep finding ways to win and get better, and it's fun to be with them."
 
Julian Herrera made his 13^th start of the season as the visitors would strike the first blow, converting a penalty kick in the 26^th minute to take a 1-0 lead. The Trailblazers countered quickly, however, as Jerod Allen headed in a free kick in the 33^rd to tie things up off a feed from Nathan Martinez.
 
"We had to go a few guys deep into our bench and Nate hit that free kick for his first touch of the game to Jerod who heads it in with his first touch of the game," Broadhead said. "All that stuff is rad because there's a lot of moments that I think we deserve but don't get and today we got some – soccer is fun like that."
 
Though Utah Tech would put up one more shot off a corner kick, both teams ended the first period of play level at one.
 
It took just 12 minutes in the second half for Utah Tech to find the breakthrough it was looking for, coming off a counter attack. Abigay Gomez played a ball over the back line for Damian Arguello, who headed the ball back across the face of goal near the edge of the box for AJ Ciampini, who tapped in his first goal of the season on an open net after the Falcon goalkeeper was caught off his line.
 
Air Force quickly responded, scoring just 20 seconds after the game restarted to level things at two in the 58^th minute.
 
Utah Tech would then proceed to out-shoot the visitors 9-3 over the next 25 minutes, creating chances but not goals, until a corner kick in the 84^th minute.
 
Ciampini stepped up to play an in-swinger and found Angel Saldana flying through the air at the far post, with Saldana heading in what would be the game-winning goal in the 84^th minute to put Utah Tech back ahead 3-2. For Saldana, it's his first goal as a Trailblazer and the first time he's scored since playing at Phoenix College last season.
 
After a strong punch from Stockton Short nullified a Falcon long ball late in the game, Utah Tech secured a 3-2 come-from-behind victory, the team's seventh of the year.
 
"Goals are tough to come by and like I said, Jerod first goal of his career, Angel first goal at Utah Tech, when guys like that finally start getting their name on the scorecard this stuff happens," Coach Broadhead said. "We're disappointed in that second goal we conceded… but I think that needs to remind us as we're still a young team and that there's still a lot of time in the game. Luckily we didn't get killed by it but I'm proud of the guys.
 
UT finished with a 17-8 advantage in shots (5-2 on goal) while taking six corner kicks and drawing 15 Air Force Fouls. Gomez's six shots led all players while Short, Saldana and Herrera all played the full 90 minutes; Bryce Backlund's 67 minutes of action led all bench players in the game.
 
Trailblazer men's soccer returns to action on the road next weekend, facing Grand Canyon and California Baptist.