Behind a second-half hat trick off the boot of Lacy Fox, Utah Tech women's soccer opened the home portion of its 2024 season with a hard fought 3-2 result over UNLV on Thursday night at Greater Zion Stadium.

Trailing 1-0 late in the 63^rd-minute, Fox bolted deep into the Rebels' 18-yard box and was taken down by a hard foul, which resulted in penalty kick chance for the junior forward.

Fox lined up the chance and rocketed a shot top shelf past UNLV keeper Hanne Breur to tie the match at 1-1.

UNLV (1-1-0) managed to wrestle the lead back nearly 13 minutes later when Gianna Newby lofted a free kick near the midfield stripe across the field that was corralled by Mallie Ramirez, who separated and netted a low shot just inside the far post to stake the Rebels to a 2-1 advantage.

The Trailblazers (1-0-1/0-0-0 WAC) got that goal back in the late stages of the 84^th-minute when Fox blasted a high-arcing shot from 40 yards out that sailed just over the outstretched gloves of Breur, and just under the cross bar to again pull Utah Tech even at 2-2.

Utah Tech took its first lead of the night just 1:15 later when Emma Carver chipped the ball deep into the UNLV box to Lataya Brost. Brost then one-touched a pass across the box to Fox, who tucked the game-winning goal into the frame with 4:58 to play.

The Trailblazer defense held UNLV at bay the rest of the way to salt away the come-from-behind victory. 

"I said this in our [post-game] huddle that this was my favorite game of my career. As a player, as a head coach or assistant coach – doesn't matter, this was my favorite game of my career," Head Coach Lexi Brown said. "We started off so poorly, and we finished on such a high. 

"I'm really proud of the way we battled back and showed resilience," Brown added. "We showed that to a degree [in the 1-1 draw] at Weber State [8/15], but not to the degree we showed tonight. We had a great crowd out here tonight, which was so incredible. A huge thanks to all the students and the community members who came out to support us. We showed that we're a fun team to watch and we're really hoping people will come back out and watch some more."

The Blazers recorded 11 shots on the night, seven of which were on frame. Junior netminder Brianna Frey stopped three UNLV shots en route to her first win of the season in goal.

For Fox, it was her first collegiate hat trick, with her final goal of the night serving as her third game-winning tally in a Trailblazer kit. The junior became just the eighth different player in Utah Tech's (and formerly Dixie State) four-year era, and only the second Trailblazer in the NCAA Division I era, to record a hat trick (Whitley Griffiths at Chicago State - 3/11/21). Fox also became the fifth player to net three goals in one half, and just the second to do it in the second half. 

In addition, Fox's three goals came in a span of 12:55 in the second half, which was second-fastest hat trick recorded in the program's NCAA era. Former Trailblazer Wendi Stratford scored three first half goals in a span of 4:58 in a road victory at Colorado Mesa (10/8/08) during the 2008 season.

"Not many players score hat tricks in their career, and for Lacy [Fox] to have one at such an important moment was incredible," said Coach Brown. "All three were brilliant goals, the penalty – brilliant, the long-shot was incredible, and the [GW goal] was a real team goal."

Utah Tech continues its three-match homestand on Sunday night with a non-conference match vs. Omaha. First touch inside Greater Zion Stadium is set for 7 p.m.