Facing in-state foe Utah Tech on Friday night, the T-birds secured a draw to open conference play.
The game in St. George was scoreless for over 20 minutes before Lacy Fox notched a goal to put the Trailblazers ahead in the 24th minute.
The score favored the home team until the 76th minute when Ashley Rivera tallied the equalizing goal for SUU. Sammie Sofonia registered the assist for the T-birds.
The equalizer from Ashley! Beautiful strike. pic.twitter.com/U54tWI8Mnv
— SUU Soccer (@SUUSoccer) September 23, 2023
Both teams locked it down defensively in the final 15 minutes, ending the match in a 1-1 stalemate in the conference opener for both sides.
Historic results for the T-birds
Recording a draw with Utah Tech was a monumental result for SUU soccer.
With the Trailblazers ranked 106th in the latest NCAA DI Women’s Soccer RPI rankings before the game, the draw meant the T-birds recorded a result against its highest-ranked opposition in 10 years.
SUU also registered a 1-1 draw with Cal State Fullerton earlier in the campaign, a program that was ranked 82nd in the final RPI rankings of 2022 (RPI rankings for 2023 had yet to be released at the time of the match).
The draws with both the Trailblazers and Titans are the best results SUU has recorded over the past decade.
Up next
SUU (0-5-5, 0-0-1 WAC) now turns its attention to a pair of conference home matches this upcoming week after picking up its fifth draw of the campaign.
The T-birds will first host Grand Canyon on Thursday, September 28 at 4 p.m. followed by a battle with Cal Baptist on Sunday, October 1 at 1 p.m.
Both matches can be seen on ESPN+.
