(Riverside, CA - Aug 26, 2026) – Utah Tech women's soccer hits the road for their third match in the "Golden State" Thursday night for a tussle with UC Riverside. 

REGULAR SEASON: MATCH 5
Who | Utah Tech (1-2-1, 0-0-0 Big Sky) at UC Riverside (1-2-0, 0-0-0 Big West)
When | Thursday, Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. MST
Where | UCR Soccer Stadium, Riverside, CA
Watch | N/A
Stats | Live Stats
Social Media | Instagram - X - #UtahTechisHere - #BigSkyWSOC

LAST TIME OUT
Utah Tech women's soccer was shut out by Portland on Sunday afternoon, 3-0. 

The Pilots (1-2-0) were able to get on the board first in the 16th minute when Xayla Black put one past Elle Rafajko.

Portland was able to extend their first half lead in the 37th minute as Kyah Zurek found the back of the net.

UT applied some pressure late in the first half, getting two shots off in the final five minutes, but were unable to put one in.

The Pilots extended their lead to three in the 51st minute with a goal from Violet Rademacher, assisted by Tayvi Khann.

At the 83rd minute, the game was called due to extreme heat, with the Pilots winning 3-0.

RIVERSIDE REPORT
The Highlanders will enter Thursday night's match with a 1-2-0 record. In their last match, UCR picked up their first win of the season with a 3-1 triumph over Kansas City, completing a 1-1 midwest road trip. After being deadlocked at one at halftime and for most of the second half, UCR was able to get two late goals from Albertine Faye and Finley Aghassi to secure the victory. 

UC Riverside was predicted to finish in 11th in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll after a winless 2025 season. 

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the second all-time matchup between the two programs. The two met last season in St George, where the Trailblazers were victorious, 2-0. 

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.