A quick glance at the lineup for the UVU women’s soccer team shows some clear similarities with the central defenders on the Wolverine back line.

Both Jenna Shepherd and Sydney Bushman are listed as juniors who played their high school careers at American Fork High School.

Of course, that’s slightly misleading, since they knew each other but were separated by three years.

Shepherd — who graduated from high school in 2015 — redshirted and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while Bushman went to Snow College after finishing high school in 2018 and then transferred to become a Wolverine (both also got an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19).

This year, however, the pair of ex-Cavemen stars are at the heart of what the UVU women’s squad wants to accomplish on the pitch.

“They’re both really reliable,” Wolverine head coach Chris Lemay said after Monday’s win over Colorado College. “They’re both great in the air. They’ve gotten unbelievable frames for centerback. I think that they understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses well and together they do a good job. We couldn’t be happier with the two that we have.”

Shepherd has been a leader for UVU for the last couple of years and her accomplishments have gotten noticed. This year she was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Top 100 and the United Soccer Coaches players to watch watch lists, as well as being named the WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

“It’s awesome (to see her get that recognition),” Bushman said. “It shows how good of a player she is and how well we are doing as a team. She deserves it.”

Shepherd said she feels like having a player of Bushman’s caliber to work with gives her tremendous confidence.

“Playing with Syd, I know we are going to be just fine because I know she’s got my back,” Shepherd said. “And I think she knows that I’ve got her back. We’ve said for the last couple of seasons that the more we play, the more in sync we get and we think we can read each other’s minds.”

Bushman agrees that going into the third year of playing with Shepherd, there is a strong connection as they work to protect the Wolverine goal.

“It’s like second nature,” Bushman said. “We just know what each other are going to do. One goes, one stays. I’m never worried. I’m just getting more and more comfortable and I feel like we know what each other is going to do.”

Shepherd said that she wouldn’t have gotten any of the attention if not for what Bushman does every time they step on the field.

“It really goes to show that I wouldn’t have any of these awards if I didn’t have Syd right next to me by my side,” Shepherd said. “Really you can’t do anything as a solo centerback. You need to you have dual centerbacks, so really any award I get is pretty much Syd getting the same thing.”

As Lemay said, the UVU strategy revolves around being able to rely on the defense to both get stops and to initiate the attack. That means the chemistry between Bushman and Shepherd are crucial to the team’s success.

“I think it builds confidence amongst the entire team when we have a solid defensive backline and we’re communicating and we’re on the same page,” Shepherd said. “Then it’s like we start with that one and it moves up the field. It sets the tone. that gets to the offense. What happens when the offense is on is we are scoring goals. If we’re on, we’re stopping goals. Then it’s a whole team effort and we are winning games.”

It’s early in the season and both Shepherd and Bushman know the Wolverines have to continue to improve to reach their goals.

“We have to pick up the communication and bring up our energy,” Bushman said. “We need to be always talking with each other and those around us, which helps everyone’s communication and keeps us organized. As long as we stay organized, everything works out. We want to play our best and be consistent. As long as we do that, we can compete with anyone.”

Shepherd agreed, saying: “We have to be consistent. We have to show up in every game and have our best performance. We can’t slack off.”

Shepherd, Bushman and the rest of the UVU team has a big opportunity to make a statement on Thursday when the Wolverines host No. 23 UCF at Clyde Field in Orem. That game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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