Game #10
Who | Utah Tech (4-3-2, 0-0-0 WAC) at Southern Utah
When | Sunday, Sept. 28 - 1 p.m. 
Where | Thunderbird Soccer Field (Cedar City, Utah)
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

FRESHMAN PHENOM
Freshman defender Abby Olsen was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 23. It's her first career conference honor and UT's second WAC Defensive Player of the Week this season (Michelle Rodriguez, Sept. 2). 

The native of South Weber, Utah, played the full 90 minutes for the first time in her collegiate career in a 2-1 Trailblazer victory over Portland State. Olsen and the Trailblazers limited PSU to five shots with just one on goal. That's the fewest shots on goal and the second-fewest shots allowed by the UT defense in a single match this season (UC Riverside).

Olsen has started eight of her nine appearances, playing in every game and totaling 512 minutes this season. She scored her first career goal at CSUN on Aug. 28.

FRESHMAN FIREPOWER
Utah Tech's five freshman goals lead the conference and account for one more than all five other teams' freshman goal totals combined. Southern Utah (2) and Tarleton State (2) are the only other WAC schools that have had at least one goal scored by a freshman this season.

True freshman forwards Brooke Hendricks (2) and Jocelyn Wright (2) and defender Abby Olsen (1) have each made a tally in the goal column. Hendricks and Wright are tied for the team lead in goals.

ASSIST ADEPT
Senior midfielder Kyah Le leads the Trailblazers with five assists this season, tying for second in the WAC and 32nd in the nation. Her 0.56 assists per game are second in the conference and 30th in the country. With goals against UC Riverside and Utah, Le is tied for the sixth-most points (9) in the WAC.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah Tech women's soccer rallied past Portland State, 2-1, last Friday at Greater Zion Stadium. The Trailblazers scored two goals in less than five minutes to flip the script in the second half and earn their second win over a Big Sky opponent this season. Portland State took a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute. Senior midfielder Kyah Le left the ball to Wright at the top left corner of the box in the 77th minute. Wright opened a window with one touch and tied the game on a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net. It was Wright's second goal of the season and Le's team-leading fifth assist of the year. Five minutes later, Fox sent a curling ball into the box, and sophomore midfielder Bre Koscielski headed it over Crabtree and into the back of the net to take the lead, 2-1. It was Koscielski's second goal and second game-winning goal of the season. Fox picked up her second assist with the cross. With the lead in hand, Utah Tech did not allow a single Viking shot in the final eight minutes. UT launched a season-high 25 shots, with nine on goal. PSU was limited to five shots, including one on target. 

SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH
The Thunderbirds host Utah Tech after picking up their first win of the season against Portland State last Sunday, 3-2. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for SUU. 

Redshirt senior Whitney Gardner is Southern Utah's leader in points (6) and tied for the team lead in goals (2) and assists (2). Gardner scored the game-tying goal and assisted the game-winning goal just six minutes later to lift SUU over PSU. With those three points, Gardner became the all-time career points leader in Southern Utah history with 48, breaking a 15-year-old program record.

Senior forward Sarah Assumma is another T-Bird to watch for. She's totaled five points on the season, tying for the team lead in goals (2). She's scored twice over the last three matches. 

In net, Southern Utah has relied on redshirt senior goalkeeper Jazmyn Brass. She's posted a 2.25 goals against average with 40 saves and a save percentage of .690 through eight matches. 

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's match will be the sixth all-time meeting between Utah Tech and Southern Utah in the regular season. The Trailblazers are undefeated against the Thunderbirds, holding a 3-0-2 advantage all-time. In Cedar City, UT's has won three-straight, posting a 3-0-0 record up north. Last season's meeting was a 4-0 shutout win for Utah Tech at Thunderbird Soccer Field (10/26/24).

CHASING HISTORY
In Utah Tech's all-time career record book, senior forward Lacy Fox ranks sixth in game-winning goals (6), tied for sixth in career goals (18), 10th in shots (107) and tied for 10th in shots on goal (50). Fox is also one point away, with 42 career points, from breaking into the all-time top 10. The native of Highland, Utah, recorded UT's most recent hat trick against UNLV last season.

Senior goalkeeper Brianna Frey ranks first all-time in career saves (190), first all-time in career minutes (3,735), tied for fifth all-time in career shutouts (6) and 10th all-time in career goals against average (1.52). 

THREE TRAILBLAZERS ON 2025 PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
Senior forward Lacy Fox, senior midfielder Kyah Le and junior defender Michelle Rodriguez were selected to the 2025 Preseason All-WAC Team. This trio is the first Trailblazers named to the Preseason All-WAC Team since Karli Heaton was picked in 2023. Three honorees is the most UT has ever placed on the Preseason All-WAC team, topping one selection in 2023 (Heaton) and 2021 (Whitley Griffiths). 

Fox earned Second Team All-WAC honors in 2024 after leading the Trailblazers in goals (8, second-most in the WAC), points (18, third-most in the WAC), shots (40), shots on goal (18), and game-winning goals (2). Fox started 16 of her 17 appearances, totaling 1,086 minutes on the pitch, the most by any Trailblazer forward.

Le returns after starting all 17 games and playing 1,435 minutes on the pitch in 2024. Le tallied the second-most assists (3) and fourth-most points (5) on the 2024 Utah Tech squad. A veteran leader, Le is the only senior midfielder and one of three upperclassmen in the midfield for UT.

Rodriguez also started all 17 games last season, totaling 1,427 minutes and helping the Trailblazers shut out three opponents. The junior defender from West Valley City, Utah, is expected to anchor the Utah Tech defense, succeeding three-time Second Team All-WAC honoree Gracie Knutzen after her graduation.

UTAH TECH PICKED THIRD IN COACHES' POLL
The Trailblazers tied for third with 15 points in the 2025 WAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the highest placement UT has ever garnered, besting fifth-place nods in 2023 and 2024. Utah Tech finished sixth in the WAC regular season standings last year with a 2-4-1 mark in conference play and a 5-75 record overall. The Trailblazers made their third-straight WAC Tournament appearance, falling to Seattle U, 2-0 in the quarterfinals. 

Utah Valley (24 points and four first-place votes) is the preseason favorite, predicted by the league's coaches to repeat as regular-season champions. California Baptist, the 2024 WAC Tournament champs, came in second (22 points, two first-place votes). Tarleton State tied with UT with 15 points. Abilene Christian (fifth, eight points) and Southern Utah (sixth, six points) rounded out the poll. 

2024 RECAP
Utah Tech made its third-straight WAC Tournament appearance after finishing sixth in the conference with seven points. After four straight losses to start conference play, UT rallied to secure points in each of its last three games on the road. Overall, the Trailblazers went 5-7-5 in their second year under head coach Lexi Brown. UT garnered four all-WAC selections with senior forward Lacy Fox and sophomore Bre Koscielski returning for the 2025 campaign. 

RETURNING PRODUCTION
The Trailblazers bring back 12 letter winners and four squad members from the 2024 team. Utah Tech's returners were responsible for 83% of goals (19-of-23), 58% of assists (11-of-19) and 75% of points (49-of-65) in 2024. Two 2024 All-WAC honorees remain in senior forward Lacy Fox (Second Team) and sophomore midfielder Bre Koscielski (All-WAC Freshman Team). 

Senior goalkeeper Brianna Frey returns after leading the WAC in saves per game (5.38), posting three shutouts and earning two WAC Goalkeeper of the Week selections in 2024.

Senior Tessa Thornton returns to action after missing the 2024 season due to injury. The five-foot-six forward totaled seven points on three goals and an assist in 2023. In UT's exhibition at BYU, Thornton equalized for the Trailblazers in the 57th minute, totaling three shots, two shots on goal, in 55 minutes last Saturday.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
UT welcomed 11 newcomers, including two transfers and nine true freshmen, to its 2025 roster. 

Junior midfielder Teagan Jaussi transferred from DII Ouachita (Wah-CHI-tah) Baptist, where she led the Tigers in goals (6), assists (5) and points (17) on her way to earning United Soccer Coaches All-Central Region Team, D2 Conference Commissioners Association All-Region First Team and unanimous First Team All-Great American Conference honors. 

Redshirt freshman midfielder Liv Leonard defected from Grand Canyon after redshirting the 2024 campaign in Phoenix, Arizona. Leonard helped GCU go undefeated, playing in all matches during the Lopes' spring slate this offseason.

Utah Tech's freshman class features four forwards, two midfielders, three defenders and a goalkeeper. Freshman Rachel Boren is a forward and midfielder.

REPRESENTING THE 801
Two-thirds of Utah Tech's roster hails from the Beehive State. 16 of those 18 student-athletes' hometowns are on the Wasatch Front, a long and relatively narrow strip of land to the west of the Wasatch Mountains, where approximately 80% of Utahns live. Sophomore forward Ella Cotter is Utah Tech's homegrown product, claiming St. George as her hometown and graduating from Crimson Cliffs High School in Washington, Utah. Freshman defender Macie Burton hails from the small, unincorporated town of Mountain Green, Utah, in the Wasatch Back.

THE SPOKANE CONNECTION
Head coach Lexi Brown was an assistant coach at Gonzaga for five seasons prior to accepting the top job in St. George. While in Spokane, Washington, Brown coached senior midfielder Kyah Le (GU 2022-23) and first-year assistant coach Lauren Towne (GU goalkeeper 2020-24). Additionally, sophomore midfielder Bre Koscielski and senior forward Tessa Thornton hail from Spokane. 

BIG SKY BOUND
Utah Tech announced this offseason that it will become a full member of the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2026. The Trailblazers will join a robust women's soccer cohort that includes Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State and Southern Utah (The Thunderbirds will rejoin the Big Sky in 2026). The Big Sky has sent a team to the NCAA College Cup every season since 1999, with three squads making it as far as the second round. UT has a combined record of 11-5-6 all-time against its future conference mates, including two wins and a draw this season.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Trailblazers visit Texas to take on a pair of conference foes next week. UT starts its Lone Star road trip at Abilene Christian on Thursday, Oct. 2, in Abilene, Texas. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (MT) at Elmer Gray Stadium.