The Utah Valley University women’s soccer program made history Wednesday at Johnson Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.
The Wolverines earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, in their third all-time appearance, with a 1-0 first-round win over Memphis on the campus of East Carolina University.
It also marks the first-ever NCAA Tournament team win in any sport in UVU athletics history.
“Before the match we talked about having to give everything that we have both mentally and physically in order to get the result because 99.9% wasn’t going to do it,” said Utah Valley coach Chris Lemay. “We thought that if for 90 minutes that we have a match where everybody buys in and is committed and willing to give everything that they have 100%, that it would be good enough. This is amazing. We had players on the field crying happy tears. That’s fully committed and they deserve this.”
Sadie Brockbank, a junior who prepped at Olympus High School, scored the match’s only goal in the 60th minute.
Julianna Carter advanced the ball to Amber Tripp to set up the game-winner. Tripp sent a pass into the box to Brockbank, who booted a high shot over the outstretched hands of the Memphis goalkeeper at the 30:22 mark of the second half.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines’ suffocating defense kept the Tigers scoreless. Goalkeeper Isabel Jones-Dawe recorded five saves. Memphis outshot UVU 14-7 but the Wolverines edged the Tigers 5-4 in shots on goal.
UVU improved to 13-4-4 on the season, while Memphis finished its campaign with an 8-4 record.
The Wolverines will play No. 6 Arkansas on Saturday (2 p.m. MDT, ESPN3) in a second-round matchup at Johnson Stadium.