Utah college soccer: Utah Valley men off to best defensive start in program history
Sharif Sayawu scored the first goal of the freshman’s collegiate career, Lewis Knecht added a second, and the Wolverines improved to 3-0 with a 2-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast.
OREM, Utah (Aug. 28, 2025) — Utah Valley men’s soccer continued rolling Thursday night.
Sharif Sayawu scored the first goal of the freshman’s collegiate career, Lewis Knecht added a second, and the Wolverines improved to 3-0 with a 2-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast in front of an announced crowd of 1,510 fans at UCCU Stadium.
The win marks the Wolverines’ best start since 2018, and only the fourth 3-0 start in program history — but the best defensively, with three consecutive shutouts for the first time ever.
Kolby Sessions made two saves to collect the clean sheet for Utah Valley.
Sayawu opened the scoring in the 25th minute, finishing a chance inside the near post from Keegan Oyler and Isaac Emojong that lifted the freshman to his first goal in a Utah Valley green shirt.
Sayawu also recorded a pair of assists last week in a pair of 4-0 win overs CSU Bakersfield and Gonzaga.
Knecht, the superstar freshman from American Fork, doubled the advantage with a right-footed laser in the 41st minute.
"We're just flying. The team's playing good together, something like eight different goal scorers in our first three games," said Oyler, the junior wing back who was named to the TopDrawerSoccer national team of the week before registering his fourth assist of the season. "It's not one person doing everything; we're clicking, and that's allowing us to show up and play well together."
But first, it was Sayawu’s turn, as the freshman from Duakwa, Ghana, followed up a spectacular bicycle attempt right into the goalkeeper with a header from Oyler in the 26th minute to go ahead.
“He loves the game; he’s such a happy guy. Any celebration, he’s the happiest guy out there,” Oyler said. “For him to get a goal was fun to see — and I hope he gets some more as well.”
Utah Valley out-shot Florida Gulf Coast, which was picked to finish second in the ASUN, 5-1 before halftime and held the Eagles to just two shots on goal through 90 minutes.
Here’s a look at other notable results from Utah college soccer on Thursday:
Ruby Hladek equalized in the 61st minute as Utah Valley women’s soccer improved to 1-1-1 with a 1-1 draw with ACC foe Cal at UCCU Stadium.
Dunes Nielsen equalized for Utah Tech men’s soccer before St. Thomas finished off a 2-1 win over the Trailblazers on the road in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Freshman defender Abby Olsen scored early, and sophomore Bre Koscielski added the game-winning goal in the 30th minute as Utah Tech women’s soccer took a 2-1 win over CSU Northridge at Matador Soccer Field in Northridge, California.
Utah State set a stadium record with 2,027 fans, but Lilliah Blum’s 73rd-minute equalizer stole the result as the University of Utah played to a 1-1 draw with the Aggies at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field in Logan.
Weber State goalkeeper Lauren Butorac made four saves before Nebraska pushed across the only goal of the match in the 87th minute for the 1-0 win in Lincoln.
Fifth-year defender Aubrie Labno converted a second-half penalty kick, and goalkeeper Jazmyn Brass made four saves to help Southern Utah to a 1-1 draw with Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado.
No. 11 BYU (2-0-1) continues its five-match homestand Friday against Auburn (7 p.m. MT, ESPN+) before the Tigers travel up the road Monday to face Utah Valley.
