Who | No. 3 Utah Tech (9-8, 4-4 WAC) vs No. 2 California Baptist (7-5-4, 5-1-2 WAC)
When | Wednesday, Nov. 8 – 8 p.m.
Where | Peter Johann Memorial Field – Las Vegas, Nev.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

Scouting the Competition:
California Baptist posted a 7-5-4 record during the 2023 regular season but took its game to new heights against conference competition, finishing 5-1-2 during WAC play. The Lancers found momentum late in the season, winning two of their final three games with a loss to Seattle U being the team's only loss in its last 10 games.
 
Lancer defender Thomas Beecham was named the 2023 WAC Defensive Player of the Year while Drew Hardin was the WAC's Freshman of the Year; Beecham (First Team), Luis Mueller (First Team), Nolan Premack (Second Team), Leo Mendez (Second Team), Hardin (Second Team, All-Freshman), Stavros Charalampous (All-Freshman) and Erik Krohnstad (All-Freshman) were All-WAC selections.

A Program First
Utah Tech was victorious in its last game, defeating the San Jose State Spartans 1-0 in the quarterfinal of the 2023 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament. Sunday's win was monumental for the program, as UT had never made a conference tournament at the Division-I level – much less won a game. The last conference tournament win came in UT's last conference tournament appearance, which came in the 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament when the Dixie State Trailblazers took down the Westminster College Griffins.

All-WAC
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced its 2023 Postseason Men's Soccer Awards on Friday, with three Trailblazers earning recognition in a poll voted on by the conference's nine head coaches. AJ Ciampini was announced as an All-WAC Second Team selection while Austin Wallace and Sami Cuevas earned spots on the All-Freshman Team.
 
Ciampini started all 16 of the team's regular season games, playing 1,120 minutes on the Trailblazer back line and leading the team with three assists. He also scored his lone goal of the season against Air Force on Oct. 15, finishing with two total shots and adding an assist on the game-winner in the 84th minute.
 
The Riverdale, Utah, native helped a Utah Tech defense that conceded 12 fewer goals in 2023 than in 2022 while improving the team's goals against average by 0.5 per game. Named WAC Defender of the Week on Aug. 29, Friday's announcement marks the first postseason recognition in his career.
 
Originally from Lehi, Utah, Austin Wallace made an instant impact during his freshman year, scoring twice in his collegiate debut against Lindenwood on Sept. 10 to fuel a 3-0 road victory. He struck again just two games later against Gonzaga on Sept. 17 and added his second game-winning goal of the season in the 86^th minute of a 2-1 victory over Utah Valley. His four goals led Utah Tech as he played 749 minutes across 13 regular season appearances (10 starts). Wallace scored the game-winning goal against SJSU on Sunday.
 
The team-leader in shots on goal this season, Sami Cuevas finished his freshman season with three goals across his 11 regular season appearances, which included seven starts. The Valera, Venezuela, native scored all three of his goals in consecutive games, culminating in back-to-back game-winners against UTRGV (Oct. 1 – W, 1-0) and Utah Valley (Oct. 5 – W, 2-1). Those two game-winning goals tied for the team's leading mark while his six total points was second-highest.
 
Another One
The 2023 Trailblazers have made a habit of defeating teams for the first time this season,as five of Utah Tech's nine victories marked the first in program history against an opponent; only one of those wins came in the first matchup in a series, with that being the 3-0 result over Lindenwood.
 
Three of those wins also came against conference opponents, as Utah Tech defeated Utah Valley, Air Force and San Jose State for the first time after previously holding a combined 0-9 record against those schools.
 
Shot Stopper
Though he only made three saves against the Spartans, Stockon Short delivered when the team needed him most. After stopping one shot at close range in the 69^th minute, Short made a reaction save to deny a Spartan attacker a wide-open header in the 76^th minute, earning the praise of Head Coach Jonny Broadhead after the game.
 
"Stockton was just being Stockton but you don't win games the way we do without a top-class goalkeeper and he's just that," Broadhead said. "He's still got so much more and the guys know it too. When you've got a goalkeeper like that… you're going to win games."

Squeaky Clean
Short and the Utah Tech defense posted their fourth clean sheet of 2023, dropping the team's goals allowed average to 1.47. The last Trailblazer men's soccer team to post four shutouts in a season was the 2019 squad that finished 11-8-1 and also won its first game in the conference tournament.
  
Stepping Up
Despite not playing in a game since Sept. 23 against UC San Diego, Alejandro Valdes played 29 huge minutes off the Trailblazer bench on Sunday. The Lake Oswego, Ore., native drew a foul near the edge of the box which created a shooting opportunity for Utah Tech, while his 29 minutes was the second most he's played in a game this season, just behind the 30 he played against San Francisco on Aug. 24.

Every Game
Six different Trailblazers have played in each of the team's 17 games this season: Stockton Short, Julian Herrera, AJ Ciampini, Damian Arguello, Jimi Villasenor and Abigay Gomez with Short, Herrera, Ciampini and Arguello all starting each game.

What's Next:
Should Utah Tech defeat California Baptist on Wednesday, the 2023 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament final is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 11.