(Bakersfield, CA - Aug 19, 2026) – Utah Tech men's soccer kicks off their 2026 regular season with a road match in California against Cal State Bakersfield, Thursday night. 

REGULAR SEASON: MATCH 1
Who | Utah Tech (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MWC) at CSU Bakersfield (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Big West)
When | Thursday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. MST
Where | Main Soccer Field, Bakersfield, CA
Watch | ESPN+
Stats | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram - X - #UtahTechisHere - #MWMSOC

ROADRUNNER REPORT
Cal State Bakersfield enters the 2026 season looking to improve off of a (3-11-3, 3-4-2 Big West) 2025 campaign. CSUB has been tested so far in two exhibition matches against California Baptist and Stanford, so they will come into their season opener ready to play. 

Like Utah Tech, The Roadrunners were also selected sixth in their conference preseason poll, and landed two players on the All-Big West Preseason Team in Zenden Hart and Filip Arras. Hart was one of two Big West goalkeepers to earn the preseason nod, and has been the starting keeper for Bakersfield the previous two seasons. Arras returns for his fourth season, where he was a Big West All-Conference Honorable Mention a year ago.

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series record between the two programs is even at 2-2-0. The last meeting came last season where UT rode a three-goal second half to a 3-0 shutout victory. 

Although both being members of the Western Athletic Conference at points, they did not meet as conference foes. 

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.

2025 SEASON RECAP
Utah Tech is looking to improve upon a 2025 season where they posted a 4-7-6 overall record, and 3-1-3 in conference play. UT saw themselves in first place in conference at times, and ended the regular season as the two seed and fell to three seeded Grand Canyon in the semifinal round. 

The Trailblazers earned seven All-WAC postseason selections, including returning goalkeeper, Luca Campoli being named Goalkeeper of the Year, and head coach Jonny Broadhead being named Coach of the Year. Two All-Freshman honorees return for UT this season in Jacob Cinelli and Stetson Coy. 

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.