Who | Utah Tech (8-4-5, 3-0-4) at Utah Valley (8-3-5, 5-0-2) / Seattle U (6-8-2, 4-2-1)
When | Thursday, Oct. 19 – 6 p.m. / Sunday, Oct. 22 – 2 p.m.
Where | Clyde Field – Orem, Utah / Championship Field – Seattle, Wash.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers
 
Scouting the Competition:
Utah Tech has yet to defeat Utah Valley in its Division-I era, having most recently lost last season on the road. The Wolverines enter this final weekend of regular season play sitting at the top seed in the conference thanks to a 5-0-2 record against WAC opponents and 8-3-5 record overall. Like the Trailblazers, UVU is in the midst of a 10-game unbeaten streak, having most recently played Seattle U to a scoreless draw at home.
 
Faith Webber's 14 goals and three assists, paired with Heather Stainbrook's nine goals and five assists, fuel a Utah Valley offense that is averaging a conference-leading 2.69 goals per game while three different goalkeepers have seen time between the posts.
 
Utah Tech is 1-2-2 against the Redhawks of Seattle U, playing them to a draw on the road last season. Brynlee Rider scored off a Karli Heaton feed for her second goal as the Trailblazers left the Northwest with a single point after a 1-1 draw in that 2022 draw. This year, SU is 6-8-2 with a 4-2-1 conference record, having gone unbeaten in the last five games after defeating the four Texas schools before Saturday's draw on the road at UVU.
 
With a balanced offensive attack that has seen five different players score two or more goals, Seattle U's defense has allowed just 1.13 goals per game this season. The Redhawks are set to face Southern Utah on Thursday before hosting Utah Tech on Sunday.
 
Strong Performances
Brynlee Rider did what she did best over the past weekend, sparking a Trailblazer attack that scored six goals across two victories. The Layton, Utah native starting things off with a 50-yard solo run that culminated in her sixth goal of the season against Tarleton State on Thursday, before scoring and assisting against ACU on Sunday.
 
Rider is now up to seven goals and six assists on the season, and her 20 total points has already set a record for Utah Tech's Division-I era.
 
Lockdown Defender
After putting one shot on target in 73 minutes against Tarleton State on Thursday, McKinley Barney was tasked with one thing on Sunday: shut down Abilene Christian's Chayse Thorn, who ranks among the nation's elite attackers with 13 goals this season. When the dust had settled on a 3-1 victory over ACU, not only was Thorn held scoreless, she managed just one shot in the entire game, an attempt that was off target in the 89^th minute.
 
A senior from Mesa, Ariz., Barney has started 14 of 15 appearances this season while recording one assist across 1,082 minutes of action on the Trailblazer backline.
 
She's a Freshman
Ella Rusick had one of the best performances of her young career against Abilene Christian on Sunday, finishing with one goal and one assist. The Litchfield Park, Ariz., native came close to another goal in the first half but a fingertip save by ACU's goalkeeper forced it off the post and out.
 
Having played in every game this season, Rusick has started each of the team's last 11 games. She's up to three goals and two assists on the season across 844 minutes played.

Clinched
Not only did Utah Tech defeat ACU on Sunday, Southern Utah came up with a 1-0 victory over Tarleton State. With the Texans' defeat, it clinched Head Coach Lexi Brown's first WAC Tournament berth in her first season at Utah Tech, and it's the second-consecutive year that UT will play in the postseason tournament.
  
A Special Moment
Hanna Carlisle subbed into the game in the 82^nd minute of Thursday's victory over Tarleton State, going in to help the Trailblazer backline find a result. However, four minutes later, Carlisle found herself wide open at the far post and smashing in the team's third goal of the night to seal a 3-1 home victory.
 
Having played two seasons at USU Eastern prior to joining the program, Carlisle's goal was her first as a Trailblazer and the fourth of her collegiate career.
 
Double Trouble
The Trailblazers' free kick specialist, Emily Garbett did what she does best against the Texans on Thursday, feeding Trailblazer goal scorers off set pieces. Garbett was credited with two assists against Tarleton, having played a corner kick that Kearney Hoggan headed in before assisting on Carlisle's goal off a free kick near the TSU bench. With five assists on the season, she is now among the conference's top assisters.
 
Goals on Goals on Goals
Utah Tech scored six goals across the team's two victories, marking the second time this season that the team has posted six or more goals in a two-game span. The team last did it at the start of its unbeaten run in back-to-back victories over Colorado State (3-2) and Idaho State (4-3).
 
Coming Together
Late in the team's first season under Coach Lexi Brown, the Trailblazers have started to find their footing in a new system. After Sunday's victory, Brown credited the team for helping identify what Trailblazer soccer is all about while peaking at just the right time.
 
"I think we've finally figured out what Utah Tech soccer is all about," Brown said. "The girls have done a great job to understand what we've been asking of them and then executing. I still don't think we're at our best yet which is exactly where you want to be this time of year.
 
"We're heading into a weekend that's going to be really tough but I feel like we're hitting our stride as a team… We learned a lot in those games that we dropped early on but we're playing with confidence which is exactly what we need as we head into the final weekend of conference play."
 
What's next:
The 2023 Western Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship is scheduled for Oct. 29 – Nov. 4 in Riverside, Calif., and more information about the team's matchup(s) will be made available at a later date.