Late penalty kick pushes Utah Valley over UC San Diego

OREM — A penalty kick in the 70th minute allowed Utah Valley (2-0-1) to come away with a 3-1 win versus UC San Diego (0-3-0) to remain undefeated in the young season.

The Wolverines, who have not lost a home game since 2021, spent the last two games in California where they defeated Sacramento State and tied UC Davis.

Utah Valley was aggressive in the game, attempting 12 total shots with five of them coming on target. The scoring got started in the 19th minute when freshman Isaac Emojong laid a perfect pass for a header by Alex Fritcher.

"We knew we had a special player when we were recruting him. We are so happy with him," Utah Valley head coach Kyle Beckerman said of Emojong. "He can score, assist, and dictate the pace of our game. He is going to keep getting better."

Emojong leads the team in goals in the young season with two and an assist.

Things tamed down until the 70th minute when a Wolverine player was tripped in the box and was awarded a penalty kick. Shortly after the penalty, Souley Diouf plead with his team to take the free kick, which he delivered.

With a 2-0 lead with just under 20 minutes to play, it seemed like Utah Valley was in the clear ... until 70 seconds later when Utah Valley conceded a hand-ball in the box and UC San Diego converted a penalty kick.

And just like that, it was a 2-1 game.

In the 84th minute, Utah Valley had a free kick from 25 yards out that hit the cross bar, was rebounded by team captian Omar Yehya, and he sent the ball into the back of the net.

"We are super happy with the win," Beckerman said. "We have been talking that as we build our form we build ways to win. I don't think we were at our best today, but the boys did what they needed to to get the win."

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