ST. GEORGE — Angel Saldana’s goal in the 84th minute gave the Utah Tech men’s soccer team a 3-2 win over Air Force on Sunday at Greater Zion Stadium.
The Trailblazers (7-6-0 overall, 3-2-0 in Western Athletic Conference) fell behind the Falcons (0-13-1, 0-5-0) early but went ahead with goals by Jerod Allen and A.J. Campiani.
“We knew we had what it takes to beat Air Force. They’re a good team but they’re on a stretch of some bad luck and we knew our mentality was strong,” head coach Jonny Broadhead said in a news release. “When we went down a goal … I was not surprised that we responded because we’ve already done it multiple times this year.”
After Air Force leveled the match 2-2 in the 58th minute, Utah Tech out-shot the visitors 9-3 over the next 25 minutes, creating chances but not goals, until a corner kick in the 84th minute. Ciampini delivered the ball to the far post, and Saldana headed in what would be the game-winning goal.
Click here for more details on Utah Tech men’s soccer.
Women’s soccer streak continues
With goals from Tessa Thornton, Brynlee Rider and Ella Rusick, the Trailblazers (8-4-5, 3-0-4) overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Abilene Christian (7-8-1, 2-5-0) at Greater Zion Stadium on Sunday.
“It was a good day for us – we weren’t our best but we did what it took to get the win,” Utah Tech head coach Lexi Brown said in a news release. “We gave up a bad goal early on but it wasn’t the first time we’ve had to fight our way back this season; we did a good job to stay composed and then battle back. To score two goals in the first half really helped us come in with the right mindset for the second half.”
Sunday’s 3-1 win extended the Trailblazers’ unbeaten streak to 10 games, something that has only happened one other time in the program’s Division-I history.
“I think we’ve finally figured out what Utah Tech soccer is all about,” Brown said. “The girls have done a great job to understand what we’ve been asking of them and then executing. I still don’t think we’re at our best yet which is exactly where you want to be this time of year.”
Utah Tech closed out the 2023 fall season with a seventh-place finish at the Charlotte Invitational, which wrapped up play on Tuesday at the Cabarrus Country Club in Concord, North Carolina.
According to a news release, the Trailblazers were in eighth place after Monday’s first 36 holes, opening with a 24-over par 312 in the morning, before carding a 21-over 309 on their second loop. Utah Tech managed to pare off two more strokes in their final round on Tuesday, posting a 19-over 307 en route to a team total of plus-64 928.
Host Charlotte (297-284-304-885; +21) led wire-to-wire to win the tournament, besting runner-up High Point (301-293-302-896; +32) by 11 shots, while Princeton (304-296-303-903; +39) took third.
Senior Grace Williams continued her strong fall season, recording her first top-10 finish as a Trailblazer as she tied with two others for ninth place at plus-8 224.
Volleyball blanks Seattle
Behind five Trailblazers with six or more kills, the Utah Tech volleyball team swept Seattle on Saturday at Burns Arena.
The Trailblazers (7-11, 3-5 WAC), who completed their third sweep of the season, topped Seattle (6-13, 1-7 ) winning by scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-14.
Led by nine kills apiece from Kennedi Knudsen and Sydney Reese, the Blazers also got eight kills from Taylor Snow and six apiece from Kate Hardy and Hannah Howard.
Emma Ricks tallied a team-leading 13 digs and the duo of Marley Roe and Meg Carter nearly evenly split assists with 17 and 16, respectively.
Utah Tech hosts Stephen F. Austin (19-3, 8-0) on Thursday, Oct. 19, and UT Arlington (15-6, 4-4) on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Burns Arena.
Cross-country gears up for WAC meet
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams both placed ninth Saturday at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational, which was staged at the UCR Agricultural Operations Course.
Trailblazer freshman Kyle Neuenschwander paced the men clocking the second-fastest time in program history in the 8K (approximately 5 miles) with a time of 24 minutes, 26.2 seconds. UC Riverside won the men’s race with 63 points while the Trailblazers came in ninth with 256 points.
On the women’s side, senior Shakayla Morgan also was Utah Tech’s top finisher for the fourth time this season coming in 23rd in the 6K (3.7 miles) with a time of 21:07.6. Long Beach State won the women’s race with 81 points while the Trailblazers came in ninth with 230 points.
Click here for complete Utah Tech results.
The Trailblazers close out the season at the WAC Cross Country Championships hosted by Abilene Christian at Zoe Park, Texas, on Friday, Oct. 27.
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