(St George, UT – Oct 14, 2026) – Utah Tech women's soccer begins their final regular season homestand as they welcome Northern Colorado to St George. The Trailblazers will also honor four seniors before the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff inside Greater Zion Stadium.

REGULAR SEASON: MATCH 14, BIG SKY 5
Who | Northern Colorado (4-5-3, 1-0-1 Big Sky) at Utah Tech (7-5-1, 3-1-0 Big Sky) 
When | Thursday, Oct 15 at 7 p.m. MST
Where | Greater Zion Stadium, St George, UT
Watch | ESPN+
Stats | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram - X - #UtahTechisHere - #BigSkyWSOC

LAST TIME OUT
Playing during a downpour, Utah Tech women's soccer bounced back from Thursday's loss with a 5-0 win at Idaho State on Sunday afternoon.

Jocelyn Wight got the goal party started for the Trailblazers, scoring off of a counter in the 17th minute to open the scoring. The goal was unassisted, and Jocelyn's first of the night and third on the season.

Just over 90 seconds later Ella Rusick found the back of the net for her sixth goal of the season to double the lead for the Trailblazers. The goal was also unassisted and propelled Rusick into the team lead in goals. 

In the second half, UT kept the pressure on early as Lataya Brost found her sixth goal of the season. Lataya's goal was set up by Channing Wuest and Jocelyn Wright, and shot her back into a tie for the team lead in goals with Rusick. 

Six minutes later, the Blazers added to their lead when Jocelyn Wright connected on her second goal of the night. This goal was unassisted, as was her first of the night. Wright's second goal extended the lead to four for UT. 

The party didn't stop there, as in the final minute, a Bengal defender committed a foul in the box, leading to a penalty kick for the Trailblazers. Ava Talaeai was sent out to take the PK, and she buried the chance to extend the UT lead to five, which held as the final score for the afternoon.

THE BEAR BASICS
Northern Colorado enters Thursday night's match coming off of their first conference win on Sunday against Eastern Washington. Madeline Mori scored her third goal of the year late in the first half, and that was enough to propel UNCO to a 1-0 shutout victory. 

The Bears have gone undefeated so far in Big Sky play, drawing against Idaho in their only other conference match. The Bears have struggled away from Geely this season, holding just a 1-3 record. 

Mori leads the Bears in both goals and points so far this season, and earned Big Sky offensive Player of the Week back in August. Forward Lexi Tuite was named to the 2026 Big Sky Conference Women's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team, and has recorded a pair of goals and assists in 2026. Thordis Melsted has anchored the UNCO backline this season, starting in all twelve matches. She has recorded 64 saves and is holding opponents to 1.52 goals per game. 

SERIES HISTORY
This is the first ever meeting between the two programs.

SENIOR DAY
Forward Ella Rusick, defender Michelle Rodriguez, defender Nicole Choren, and midfielder Teagan Jaussi will all be honored before the match on Thursday. Rusick, Rodriguez, and Choren are all four-year Trailblazers, and Jaussi has been a member of the team for the past two seasons after transferring in. 

2026 NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
The Trailblazers held a 4-4-1 record in the non-conference portion of their 2026 schedule. The four wins in non-conference matches the total from last year, and is the most since 2023 where UT won five. 

Utah Tech posted a 3-2 record at home including wins over Utah and Colorado State. The win over Utah was the first win over the Big12 Conference in program history, and the Colorado State victory was the first over a Pac12 Conference opponent. 

UTAH TECH PICKED THIRD IN COACHES' POLL
Utah Tech women's soccer is predicted to finish third (63 points, 1 first place vote) in their inaugural season in the Big Sky Conference Preseason Poll. This marks the second year in a row that UT has been picked to finish 3rd in the conference preseason poll, and ties the program's highest projected finish. The Trailblazers are one of three teams to receive a first place vote. 

Weber State (74 points and four 1st place votes) is selected as the preseason favorite and had three athletes selected to the 2026 Preseason All-Big Sky Team. Just behind the Wildcats is Idaho (70 points and three 1st place votes). 

TWO TRAILBLAZERS ON 2026 PRESEASON ALL-BIG SKY TEAM
UT landed two players on the 2026 Preseason All-Big Sky Team in Jocelyn Wright and Bre Koscielski. This is the second season in a row that Utah Tech has had multiple players selected to the preseason all-conference team, having three selected last year.

Jocelyn had quite the decorative season last year, as she earned the 2025 WAC Freshman of the Year Award, was 2nd team all-WAC, and was named to the 2025 WAC all-freshman team. She led UT in goals (6), and was third in both shots (29) and shots on goal (18) in 2025.

Bre had a solid 2025 campaign coming off her 2024 WAC all-freshman team honors. She set career highs in goals (4), assists (5), shots (26), and shots on goal (10) en route to earning 2nd team all-WAC.

RETURNING PRODUCTION
The Trailblazers return 16 players from last year's team, including Jocelyn Wright and Bre Koscielski who were listed on the 2026 Preseason All-Big Sky Team. All three players named to the 2025 WAC All-Freshman team returned for this season, including Abby Olsen who also was named to the 2025 All-WAC 1st Team. 

NEW TRAILBLAZERS IN TOWN
UT brought in seven high school athletes as a part of their 2026 recruiting class, as well as three athletes via the transfer portal. The Trailblazers welcome student-athletes from three states, including five from Utah. 

Salt Lake Community College transfer Elle Rafajko looks to make an immediate impact as the Trailblazers lose their starting goalie from a year ago to graduation. Rafajko is the reigning back-to-back Scenic West Athletic Conference Goalkeeper, and a 2024 NJCAA Second Team All-American. She posted 8 shutouts with a 0.44 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. 

A freshman to watch this year is CC Malohifo'ou from Saratoga Springs, Utah. CC represents Tonga on its international team, playing in the 2025 U19 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) World Cup Qualifiers. She logged a hat trick to help the Kingdom secure a spot in the championships. In 2024, Malohifo'ou led Tonga's U16 squad to its first-ever medal, taking bronze in the OFC World Cup Qualifiers.

HELLO BIG SKY
Utah Tech joined the Big Sky Conference officially on July 1, 2026, in all Big Sky sponsored sports. Southern Utah also made the jump over from the Western Athletic Conference, where they once called the Big Sky home before their brief tenure in the WAC.

Utah Tech will begin conference play on Oct 1, with a home match versus Portland State. UT had a strong 4-0-1 record versus Big Sky opponents last year, including a sweep of rival Southern Utah. Last season's mark pushed the Trailblazers' overall record to 13-5-6 versus Big Sky opposition.