(La Jolla, CA - Aug 15, 2026) – Utah Tech women's soccer heads south after the season opener in Irvine to "America's finest city" for a Saturday night match with UC San Diego.

REGULAR SEASON: MATCH 2
Who | Utah Tech (0-0-1, 0-0-0 Big Sky) at UC SAN DIEGO (0-1-0, 0-0-0 Big West)
When | Saturday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. MST.
Where | Triton Soccer Stadium - La Jolla, CA
Watch | ESPN+
Stats | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram - X - #UtahTechisHere - #BigSkyWSOC

LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers opened their 2026 regular season with a 1-1 draw at UC Irvine. Utah Tech scored in the first 64 seconds of the match as Ella Rusick received a great through ball from Lataya Brost and beat the UC Irvine goalkeeper to the left for the first Trailblazer goal of the season. Freshman, Channing Wuest, also assisted on the play, recording her first collegiate point. 

Emma McIff got the start in goal for Utah Tech and was busy early on. The Anteaters fired five first half shots, including three on target. McIff saved all of the shots on goal and maintained the early Trailblazer lead into the half. 

Looking for the equalizer in the 73rd minute, the Anteaters had a free kick in the Trailblazer side. Hailey Clingin served one up in the air toward the goal and three players went up to challenge the ball. The ball came down and hit a UT defender and deflected into the goal for an own goal to tie the score.

THE TRITON REPORT

UC San Diego also opened their 2026 campaign on Wednesday, falling 2-0 to cross-town foe, San Diego State, at home. The Tritons were outshot 9-7, but put four shots on goal, led by Ava Tibor with two. 

Tibor returns for the Tritons after a decorated redshirt freshman season. She won Big West Freshman of the Year, 2nd Team All-Big West, and was on the All-Big West Freshman Team. Ava Tibor was the leading scorer a year ago for the Tritons with six. The next closest UCSD player had just two. 

UC San Diego was predicted to finish 9th in the Big West Preseason Poll, and did not land anyone on the Preseason All-Big West Team. 

SERIES HISTORY
This is the second all-time meeting between the two programs, as UCSD defeated Utah Tech 5-1 in 2009 when both schools were still Division 2 members. 

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.

2025 SEASON RECAP
Utah Tech finished the 2025 campaign at 8-7-5 (4-4-2 WAC) good enough for a 3rd place finish with a semifinal defeat in the WAC Tournament semifinal in their final season as members of the Western Athletic Conference. This was the 4th straight conference tournament appearance for UT. The Trailblazers tallied a program-record eight All-WAC Selections and freshman forward Jocelyn Wright was named the WAC Freshman of the Year. 

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.