Brutality and finality: Wolverines hoping struggles in adversity pay off in November
Auburn extended the Wolverines’ three-match winless skid, handing Utah Valley its first loss at the newly renovated UCCU Stadium 2-0 in a Labor Day matinee.
OREM, Utah (Sept. 1, 2025) — In their final season in the Western Athletic Conference before moving to the Big West next July 1, Utah Valley women’s soccer is finding life in a power conference is hard.
The reigning three-time WAC regular-season champions scheduled ambitiously before conference play with three Big 12 opponents, two from the SEC, California out of the ACC, and West Coast power Gonzaga in addition to in-state rivals Utah STate and Weber State.
Auburn extended the Wolverines’ three-match winless skid, handing Utah Valley its first loss at the newly renovated UCCU Stadium 2-0 in a Labor Day matinee.
“The message I sent to the team right now is, we’ve got to keep our heads up,” said Chris Lemay, the ninth-year head coach at Utah Valley with an 89-63-20 record. “We either win or we learn, and this is a learning opportunity.
“At the end of the day, Sept. 1 is important. But November is a lot more important. As long as we are taking lessons that we can then implement later in the season, then this is all fine.”
That doesn’t mean that Lemay wasn’t “disappointed with the score line.” But he wasn’t upset with the effort, he quickly added.
Erin Flurey gave Auburn a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, converting from the penalty spot.
Three days after starting a two-match road trip to the Beehive State with a 2-0 loss at No. 11 BYU, the Tigers (3-2-1) held the Wolverines to a single shot on target, though Faith Webber’s attempt in the 71st minute sailed just a foot or so high of the crossbar.
Another touch from Webber in the 78th minute also narrowly missed the bottom corner of the net as Utah Valley searched for the equalizer.
Instead, Gracie Brown doubled Auburn’s advantage, finishing a pass from Dylan Driver in the 80th minute to extend the Wolverines’ winless skid to three straight.
A year after leading the NCAA in goals per game, Webber, who had seven shots on the afternoon and forced the lone save out of Auburn goalkeeper Ayana Yapo, has just one goal (and an assist) through the first four matches of her fifth season of eligibility.
“Against really good teams, you’re only going to get a few real looks,” Lemay said. “When we get real looks, we’ve got to do better at putting balls on frame. We’ve got to do better with placement; I thought there were moments where we were able to get balls in the box, and we didn’t have enough committed runners to get on the end of those balls.
“I think we’ll spend some time in the next couple of days in preparation for LSU in and around the box.”
