CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah women's soccer closes the regular season at home against in-state rival Utah Tech on Thursday, Nov. 5, with a place in the Big Sky Championship on the line. Kickoff at Thunderbird Soccer Field is set for 1 p.m. MT.
The top six teams in the final Big Sky standings advance to the championship in Missoula, Mont., on Nov. 11, 13 and 15. SUU enters the finale seventh with eight conference points and needs a result, plus help from Weber State, to get in. Thursday is also the first Big Sky meeting between the two southern Utah programs.
A goal would also tie a program record. SUU's 30 goals are one shy of the single-season mark of 31, set in 2022.
The Big Sky Picture
SUU is 2-4-2 in Big Sky play with eight points, seventh in the 10-team league and one point behind sixth-place Idaho State. The top six advance to the Big Sky Championship in Missoula.
The Thunderbirds' path runs through two matches that kick off at 1 p.m. Thursday: their own against Utah Tech and Idaho State's at first-place Weber State.
- A SUU win sends the Thunderbirds to Missoula as the No. 6 seed unless Idaho State wins at Weber State.
- A draw is enough if Weber State beats Idaho State. SUU would win the tie-breaker with the Bengals, and with Eastern Washington if the Eagles also reach nine points.
- A loss ends SUU's season.
Utah Tech (3-2-3, 12 points) has already clinched a spot. The Trailblazers drew 1-1 at Eastern Washington on Oct. 25.
"This group has worked hard this season to be in this position, it is always a great feeling to make it to the last weekend knowing that even this last match matters and has an impact on the post season - something many programs across the country don't get to say. We have to continue the push to perform on both sides of the ball at a high level on Thursday to give ourselves the best chance of making the conference tournament and we are looking forward to getting the opportunity to do it in front of our home fans one last time this fall!"
Scouting the Thunderbirds
SUU is 5-9-3 overall after a 4-0 loss at Idaho on Oct. 25. The Vandals scored three times in the first 30 minutes. Gracen Blieschke put two of her three shots on goal, and Halle Cowan and Ashlyn O'Malley also tested Idaho goalkeeper Paula Flores. Tatum Trout made three saves in the first half and Madison Ejgird made two in the second.
O'Malley, a freshman forward from Rogers, Minn., leads SUU with seven goals and 16 points and shares the team lead with two game-winners. She has five of SUU's six Big Sky goals. Blieschke, a freshman forward from Strathalbyn, Australia, leads the team with four assists and 41 shots and has five goals and 14 points.
Trout, a freshman goalkeeper from Huntington Beach, Calif., has started all 17 matches, with 81 saves, a 1.54 goals-against average and a .779 save percentage. She ranks third in the Big Sky in saves in the league's Nov. 2 statistics.
Notes on the Thunderbirds
Record watch. SUU's 30 goals are the second-most in a season in program history. One more ties the 2022 team's record of 31, and two would set a new mark. SUU also has 84 points, three shy of the 2022 record of 87, and 24 assists, one shy of the 2022 team's 25.
Clean sheet chase. SUU's five shutouts rank fourth in a season in program history. A sixth would tie the 2005 and 2007 teams for second; the record is eight, set in 2022. The Thunderbirds are 4-0-1 when they do not allow a goal.
Cedar City's own. Rylan Tebbs, a junior defender from Cedar City and Cedar High School, has 47 career appearances, the most by a Cedar City native in program history. She made her 39th career start at Idaho, one shy of Rachael Hunt's Cedar City record of 40 (2020-22). A start on Thursday would tie Hunt in front of the home crowd. Tebbs has played every minute of 13 of SUU's 17 matches.
Ironwomen. Seven Thunderbirds have started all 17 matches: Brooklyn Bradley, Dakota Hansen, Suika Shibutani, Tebbs, Trout, Ashlyn Woodbury and Nao Yasuda. Nine have passed 1,000 minutes: Yasuda (1,399), Tebbs (1,356), Trout (1,349), Woodbury (1,340), Shibutani (1,213), Hansen (1,178), Bradley (1,171), Blieschke (1,111) and Cowan, who joined the list at Idaho (1,052).
Senior farewell. Thursday is the final regular-season match in Cedar City for seniors Yasuda, Kayleigh Acree and Ashtyn Ivey. Yasuda, a defender from Osaka, Japan, has started all 34 matches she has played for SUU and leads the team in minutes. Acree, a forward from Tacoma, Wash., and a Sonoma State transfer, has played in 34 matches over two seasons. Ivey, a forward from Edgewood, Ky., and a USC Aiken transfer, has three goals and an assist in her first season with the Thunderbirds, including a hat trick against Justice on Sept. 6.
Lindquist's first season. Steven Lindquist is 5-9-3 in his first season as a head coach. SUU's five wins are its most in a season since the 2022 team won nine, and a sixth on Thursday would add to that total.
Familiar faces. The rosters share hometowns and high schools. Hansen and Reese Peterson played at Mt. Spokane High School, as did Utah Tech midfielder Bre Koscielski. Cowan and Utah Tech freshman CC Malohifo'ou both came from Westlake High School in Saratoga Springs, Utah. Bradley and Utah Tech leading scorer Lataya Brost are from Orem, and Maddie Moss and Utah Tech's Brooklyn Strange are from Lehi.
Scouting the Trailblazers
Utah Tech is 7-6-4 overall and 3-2-3 in the Big Sky after a 1-1 draw at Eastern Washington on Oct. 25. Its league wins came 2-1 against Portland State, 2-0 against Montana and 5-0 at Idaho State. The Trailblazers have drawn three of their last four: 0-0 with Northern Colorado, 0-0 at Idaho and 1-1 at Eastern Washington.
Senior forward Ella Rusick of Litchfield Park, Ariz., scored Utah Tech's goal at Eastern Washington and leads the Trailblazers with seven goals, 39 shots and 23 shots on goal. Redshirt junior forward Lataya Brost of Orem, Utah, matches Rusick's team-high 16 points with six goals and four assists and has two game-winners. Sophomore forward Jocelyn Wright of Herriman, Utah, has four goals, four assists and two game-winners.
Utah Tech has used two main goalkeepers. Junior Elle Rafajko is 6-4-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average and a .680 save percentage, and redshirt sophomore Emma McIff, who played at Eastern Washington, is 1-2-3 with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .763 save percentage. Each has three shutouts. Senior defender Michelle Rodriguez and sophomore defender Ava Talaeai have played in all 17 matches.
Seventeen of Utah Tech's 28 players are from Utah, including junior forward Ella Cotter of St. George. Lexi Brown is Utah Tech's head coach.
Series History
Utah Tech leads the all-time series 5-2-2, including meetings as Dixie State. SUU is 1-4 against the Trailblazers in Cedar City and 1-1-2 in St. George. The 2022-25 meetings came when both schools were in the WAC.
SUU's win in Cedar City came 3-2 on Sept. 17, 2016. Ally Thimsen scored and assisted on Logan Harker's goal, and Meghan DeHerrera added an unassisted goal. SUU outshot Dixie State 12-5 in front of 300 fans. The year before, Jahna Tacson and Abbie Flandro scored in a 2-1 win in St. George on Sept. 3, 2015.
St. George native Ashley Rivera scored SUU's goal in a 2-1 loss to Dixie State in Cedar City on Sept. 16, 2021, off an assist from Kate Schirmer. Rivera finished her SUU career (2021-23) with seven goals. The teams also played a 1-1 double-overtime draw in St. George during the 2020-21 spring season on Feb. 14, 2021.
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