Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT, with gates opening at 6. Tickets can be purchased at GoUVU.com/MSOCtix. The match will also be streamed live on ESPN+ with Brice Larson and Amber Tripp on the call. Outside the U.S., the game can also be streamed at WACInternational.tv.

SEASON PREVIEW

The Wolverines return 10 players from last season’s team, including seven starters. Four of those starters are on the defensive side, where Utah Valley excelled last season. As a team, the Wolverines had a 1.11 goals-against average, second-best in the WAC and just 0.02 behind the leader, Seattle U.

Among those defensive returners is senior GK Ben Williams, who led all qualified WAC goalkeepers in goals-against average in 2024. Williams had five shutouts last season, including three in the final five games, and played every minute in goal. Preseason All-WAC defender Keegan Oyler is also among the returners.

On the offensive side, the Wolverines return midfielders Gilles Aurelien and Isaac Emojong, who will likely carry much of the offensive load this season. Aurelien tied for the WAC lead in assists with seven and ranks in the top 25 nationally among returning players in that category. Emojong is the team’s leading returning goal-scorer with four.

Utah Valley will have to replace a sizable chunk of its scoring from the 2024 season, with just 36% of total goals scored returning for the 2025 season (nine total). Most notably, the Wolverines will have to replace the goal-scoring prowess of Omar Yehya, who netted 12 of the team’s 25 goals in 2024.

Among the newcomers who could bridge that gap are a trio of JUCO transfers in Jose Luis Martin Montealegre, Mason Abdella, and Nil Grau. Martin Montealegre and Grau, both natives of Spain, amassed over 20 goals across their two seasons at the JUCO level, with Grau also adding an impressive 22 assists in that time. Abdella is coming off an impressive freshman campaign at Highline College in Washington where he scored 12 goals and added 13 assists.

Freshmen forwards Lewis Knecht and Sharif Sayawu are also poised to make an impact in their debut campaigns. Knecht capped his stellar high school career with the state’s highest honors — UHSAA Male Athlete of the Year (top athlete in all sports), Gatorade Player of the Year, and Utah’s Mr. Soccer. Knecht led American Fork HS to the state title this past spring. Sayawu comes to the U.S. after playing his club soccer at the Phoenix Academy in Ghana. In the academy’s short seven-year history, it has produced numerous players that have gone on to compete in MLS, USL, and at the NCAA level. Sayawu was named the academy’s top player at the end of 2024.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS

CSUB is coming off a solid 2024 season that saw the ‘Runners finish in 4th in the strong Big West field with a 7-6-2 overall record and a 4-3-2 mark in conference play. CSUB return just five total goals scored from the 2024 season, including one player that scored multiple goals. Junior F Joey Velasquez is CSUB’s leading returning goalscorer with three.

CSUB and UVU had nine common opponents in 2024 in CBU, Utah Tech, SJSU, UNLV, Sac State, UCSB, UCSD, Cal Poly, and UC Davis. The Wolverines went 4-3-3 against those opponents, while CSUB went 3-5-2.

​​SEASON-OPENING DOMINANCE

In Utah Valley’s 11-season history, the team is undefeated in both season openers and home openers, The Wolverines are a perfect 11-0 in home openers and are 10-0-1 in season openers. The lone tie came in Kyle Beckerman’s first game at the helm, a 1-1 tie at Canisius in 2021. Utah Valley has outscored opponents 33-7 in the previous home openers and 27-6 in season openers.

WEST COAST PHYSICALITY

Entering the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the WAC and Big West made up nine of the top 26 teams nationally in yellow cards, with Utah Valley ranking 9th at 49 and Bakersfield ranking 95th with a modest 35 yellows. Of the teams to finish ahead of Utah Valley, only Loyola Maryland and Sac State had more yellow cards without a red card.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR ON 2025 ROSTER

This season, Utah Valley broke its program record — set just last year — for most international student-athletes on the roster. The 2025 roster has 11 athletes who are citizens of, have competed for, or were born in the following countries: England, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Denmark, Jamaica, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Germany, and Poland. The men’s soccer program has the most international athletes among any sport at UVU, more than double any other team.

WELCOME HOME, ALEX

Kyle Beckerman has hired former All-WAC defender Alex Neff as the team’s Director of Performance. Neff, a member of the inaugural 2014 team, was a three-time First Team All-WAC honoree and a two-time All-Region recognition after playing his freshman year with the BYU club team. Despite playing just three seasons, Neff ranks 4th in program history in games started (56) and 5th in minutes played (5,060). Neff was previously a volunteer assistant on staff from 2018-19.

UP NEXT

Utah Valley will make the short trip north to Kyle Beckerman’s old stomping grounds at America First Field in Sandy for a showdown against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Admission is free, and kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MDT. Fans can park in the north and west parking lots, and enter via the west and northwest entrances. Kyle Beckerman bobbleheads will also be given out to the first 200 fans.