Anna Pickering scored a pair of goals and Isabel Jones-Dawe recorded the shutout in goal to lead the Utah Valley University women’s soccer team to a 4-0 road win over Chicago State on Saturday at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago.

Utah Valley improves to 10-4-3 overall and 9-2-2 in WAC play. The Wolverines currently sit atop the WAC standings with 29 points.

UVU now has a regular season WAC title in its sights as the team controls its own destiny with just one match remaining at home against Dixie State next Saturday. A win over the Trailblazers on Saturday would secure the Wolverines no less than a share of the WAC regular season crown.

“We played well today and were able to utilize everybody,” said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. “We never panicked and put together a strong 90-minute performance. We’re happy with the win and to come back home with six points on the road.”

Utah Valley received a free kick in the 50th minute after the Wolverines got out on the break and forced Chicago State’s keeper out of the box where she was charged with a hand ball. Heather Stainbrook then took the free kick from just outside the box and fired it into the back of the net to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Stainbrook’s goal would prove to be the game winner for the Wolverines.

The Wolverines took a 2-0 lead just three minutes later in the 53rd minute after Grace Beeston sent a corner kick into the box from the left side where Jenna Shepherd headed into the net to give UVU a 2-0 advantage.

Pickering raced down the right side of the ball and sent a cross from the right side that made it all the way through to the left side of the field where Breanna DeWaal settled it. DeWaal then booted it with her left foot into the box where Pickering got her right foot on it and fired it off the far post and into the net to give UVU a 3-0 lead in the 72nd minute.

UVU scored a fourth goal after Lily Haskins sent a ball from 30 yards out into the left side of the box where Julianna Carter headed it in front of the box, setting up Pickering for the goal in the 73rd minute to give the Wolverines a 4-0 lead.

Utah Valley now returns to Orem to wrap up regular season play on Saturday against in-state rival Dixie State on Saturday night at Clyde Field. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. UVU’s seniors will be honored in a ceremony prior to the start of the game.

Baseball drops finale with Grand Canyon

Despite a two-run home run from senior Kade Poulsen on the day, Utah Valley baseball found itself on the wrong end of a 7-2 contest to Grand Canyon in the series finale on Saturday afternoon at UCCU Ballpark.

With the setback, GCU takes three of the four games on the weekend to claim the weekend WAC series. The preseason favorite Lopes improve to 14-13-1 overall and 9-3 in the WAC standings with Saturday’s win, while UVU drops to 5-19 overall and 3-9 in league play with the loss.

Deadlocked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel early, GCU was the first to get something going in the fourth by putting a five-spot on the board to take a 5-0 advantage. The Preseason WAC Player of the Year Juan Colato and Cade Verdusco both homered in the big inning for the Lopes while Brock Burton and Tayler Aguilar each chipped in doubles.

GCU then loaded the bases in the fifth and added a pair of insurance runs to extend its lead to 7-0. UVU reliever Carson Brown came on in relief with the bases full during the frame and did a nice job of limiting the damage, however, as he struck out a pair of hitters to help the Wolverines get out of the jam.

With GCU having gone to the bullpen in the sixth, UVU got a lead-off double from Alexander Marco but Grand Canyon reliever Keaton Glover managed to escape the jam unscathed to preserve the seven-run lead for the Lopes at the time.

With a runner aboard and one away in the eighth, the senior Poulsen got UVU on the board with second home run of the weekend with a two-run shot to left center to make it a 7-2 contest. The round-tripper not only marked Poulsen’s second of the series but also his third of the season. The Wolverines later got a two-out double from Jeff Arens, but Preseason All-WAC honoree Frankie Scalzo came on and managed to get a strikeout to end the inning.

UVU then got a runner on base in the ninth via a walk from Trey Newman, but Scalzo went on to retire the next three batters he faced to end the ballgame.

Utah Valley starter Mason Gray was solid for the Wolverines early, as he allowed just one hit and two total baserunners into the fourth. Despite striking out five in four-plus innings of work, Gray was tagged with the loss to fall to 1-4 on the year. GCU starter Carter Young pitched five innings of shutout action in which he allowed just two hits on his way to improving to 4-0 on the year.

Poulsen finished 1-for-3 on the afternoon with the two-run home run and a run scored, while Arens went 1-for-1 with a double and a trio of walks. Mitch Moralez, Newman and Kyle Coburn also collected hits in the contest for the Wolverines. Colato led GCU by going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Aguilar, Tyler Wilson and Jonny Weaver also added two-hit performances for GCU.

The Wolverines will cap their five-game homestand by welcoming Washington State of the Pac-12 Conference to town for a midweek nonconference contest at 6 p.m. Wednesday at doTerra Field at UCCU Ballpark. Following Wednesday’s contest, UVU will return to the road for a four-game league series at UT Rio Grande Valley on April 9-11 in Edinburg, Texas.

Softball can’t hold off Cal Baptist

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — California Baptist came from behind to avoid a series sweep, defeating Utah Valley, 6-5, in Western Athletic Conference softball on Saturday afternoon in Southern California.

The Wolverines (14-17, 2-4) led 3-0 after a three-run third, but two in the fourth and four in the fifth helped the Lancers (13-21-1, 3-3) salvage the final game of the series. The big blow was a go-ahead three-run home run from Amanda Argomaniz in the fifth.

After UVU shut out CBU during both games in Friday’s doubleheader, Devyn Cretz kept the Lancers off the board for the first three innings, retiring nine of the first 10 hitters she’s faced.

Abby Robertson singled to begin the fourth, and Makayla Jordan followed with a home run to end a scoreless streak that dated all the way to last Sunday against Dixie State, a 31-inning stretch without a run for CBU.

After a three-run home run yesterday, Jaeden Barajas made an earlier CBU error hurt in the top of the fifth when she singled home Laynee Betancur with two down. Down 6-4 after the big inning for CBU, the Wolverines got a run back in the sixth after Linnah Rebolledo singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a Siena Sandoval base hit.

Utah Valley had 10 hits in the game, with four different players collecting two hits each. Kyla Hardy was 2-for-4 with two doubles for the Wolverines. The Lancers finished with nine hits. Despite seeing her scoreless streak end at 14.2 innings, Cretz still finished the week 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched during the week.

The Wolverines will play a Tuesday midweek game at Weber State at 4 p.m. before opening the WAC home schedule on Friday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. against preseason favorite Seattle University.