(St George, UT – Oct 17, 2026) – Utah Tech men's soccer begins the final stretch of the season with four of their last five on the road, beginning Sunday night against Grand Canyon.
REGULAR SEASON: MATCH 14, CONFERENCE 6
Who |
Utah Tech (1-10-2, 0-4-1 MWC) at Grand Canyon (8-5-0, 5-0-0 MWC)
When | Sunday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. MST
Where | GCU Stadium, Phoenix, AZ
Watch | Mountain West+
Stats | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram - X - #UtahTechisHere - #MWMSOC
LAST TIME OUT
Utah Tech remained winless in Mountain West Conference play after dropping a hard-fought 2-0 decision to visiting San Jose State on Thursday night at Greater Zion Stadium.
The two sides slugged their way through a scoreless opening 45 minutes, thanks in large part to stellar saves by Trailblazer netminder
Luca Campoli on three rocketed Spartan shots.
The Blazers had a great look at the game's first goal with nearly four minutes gone in the second half when
Griffin Valladares got behind the Spartan defense for a breakaway chance. However Axelson made the stop on the Valladares bender to keep the match scoreless.
SJSU managed to break through in the 58th-minute when Ryan Corcoran tucked in a rebound chance off a Spartan shot that Campoli initially deflected away.
The Spartans extended to a two-goal advantage nearly 10 minutes later when Campoli stopped another Corcoran shot, but SJSU defender Tiko Moodie was there to chip in the carom.
Utah Tech had a good look to cut the deficit in half in the 78th-minute when midfielder
Ben Joyner blasted a shot to the far post, but Axelson made a diving stop to keep the Blazers off the board.
The Blazers were outshot 15-14 for the match, including a 9-5 count on goal. Campoli finished with seven saves on the night.
A LOOK AT THE 'LOPES
Grand Canyon enters Sunday's match on a five match conference win streak, including a 2-0 shutout victory last time out against Air Force. Martin Luala scored his first goal on the season, and Jorge Lopez added his third goal on the year to propel the Lopes to a 2-0 win behind three saves from Beltran Fernandez.
Although the Lopes enter Sunday night's match on winning streaks of five in conference play and six overall, they are more vulnerable at home than on the road, with just a .500 record at 4-4-0.
SERIES HISTORY
GCU owns a 12-5-1 record against the Trailblazers in their NCAA era, including a 3-1 victory in St George on Sept 30.
TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SIXTH IN COACHES' POLL
Utah Tech men's soccer was selected to finish 6th in the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, and had three players selected to the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Watchlist.
Utah Tech was slotted just behind Air Force, tallying 7 total points in the preseason poll. Grand Canyon and San Jose State both tied for the lead with 22 points, but the Lopes outnumbered the Spartans in first place votes, 4-2, to claim the honors of being the preseason favorite.
Goalkeeper
Luca Campoli, forward
Samir Cuevas, and defender
Tanner Dutra were selected to the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Watchlist.
Campoli is coming off of a strong freshman campaign in 2025 where he made 12 appearances, with 11 of them coming as starts. Luca recorded 37 saves and recorded three wins, including two shutouts. Both shutouts recorded by Campoli came against now conference opponents in Air Force and UNLV. In the seven conference games Luca played in last season, he posted a 3-1-3 record while allowing just eight total goals.
Samir had a productive 2025 season when on the field for UT. In just six games, Cuevas recorded three assists and six shots on goal. This is the second year in a row that Cuevas has earned preseason recognition, as he was named to the Preseason All-WAC team in 2025. Samir enters his senior season at Utah Tech tied for seventh in game winning goals, with three.
Tanner Dutra was a solid contributor for the Trailblazers in 2025. Starting in all 17 games, he scored two goals and assisted once. Tanner played all 90 minutes in every game except one. Tanner led the team in minutes played a season ago (1,509) and helped the Trailblazers record four shutouts on the season.
2026 NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
Utah Tech posted a 1-6-1 record in the non-conference slate. Their win came in a home match against Sacramento State, where senior forward
Samir Cuevas scored the game's only goal early in the second half to propel UT to a 1-0 win. To close out non-conference play, the Blazers earned a ranked draw in the "Old Hammer Rivalry" against No. 22/24 Utah Valley, 1-1.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Utah Tech returns just nine players from a year ago. Just five of the nine returners appeared in over half of UT's matches last season. All three of the players nominated for the 2026 Mountain West Conference Preseason Watchlist return after earning postseason all-conference awards last season.
A player that was not named to the conference preseason watchlist that had a great season last year was junior forward
Stetson Coy. Coy appeared in 14 matches, making five starts, and scored his first career goal in a 2-1 victory over then ranked No. 21 California Baptist. Stetson made the WAC All-Freshman Team along with Campoli and
Jacob Cinelli.
NEW FACES ON THE PITCH
The Trailblazers welcome 19 newcomers to the roster for the 2026 season, including 11 freshmen.
HELLO MOUNTAIN WEST SOCCER
While Utah Tech athletics transitioned most sports to the Big Sky Conference, both baseball and men's soccer found a home in the new look Mountain West Conference. This will be the inaugural season of Mountain West men's soccer, and Utah Tech will begin conference play with a road match at Air Force on Saturday, Sept. 26. All UT men's soccer home matches and conference matches can be streamed on Mountain West Plus.
