Webbers' historic night leads Utah Valley women's soccer to 8-0 win

OREM — With two weeks remaining in the WAC regular season, Utah Valley sits atop the standings as it looks to secure a fourth straight conference title.

Behind a five-goal performance from senior forward Faith Webber, the Wolverines rolled to an 8-0 win over in-state rival Southern Utah on senior night, moving closer to locking up the No. 1 seed for the WAC Tournament that takes place at UCCU Stadium.

Head coach Chris Lemay said he had a feeling his star striker was due for a special night.

"You might not believe me, but I told Josh Morzelewski, our strength and conditioning coach, 'I feel like Faith's going to get five tonight,'" Lemay said.

Webber laughed, saying she didn't enter the match with any specific goal in mind.

"I wasn't even thinking about it," she said. "I wasn't going for it, but I was just having one of those days."

Utah Valley wasted no time finding the back of the net. Greta Davis opened the scoring with a cross to Webber, who tapped in her 11th goal of the season. Two minutes later, senior Sierra Pennock slipped a through ball to Webber for her second goal.

Just 16 minutes into the match, Webber weaved through the Thunderbirds defense and fired an off-balance shot past the keeper to complete a hat trick — the fastest in program history and the third of her career. Three minutes later, she added a fourth goal, giving Utah Valley a commanding 4-0 lead before the 20-minute mark.

By halftime, the Wolverines led 5-0 and held a 22-0 advantage in shots. They finished the night outshooting Southern Utah 44-1.

Pennock joined the scoring in the 60th minute to make it 6-0 before Webber found her fifth — a school record for goals in a single game. The senior received a standing ovation from the home crowd as she exited the match.

Junior Sadie Beardall capped the night with a 75th-minute goal, celebrating with a round-off as the Wolverines closed out their largest win of the season.

Utah Valley hosts Utah Tech on Monday in its final home game before finishing the regular season with two road contests. The Wolverines likely won't be able to clinch the WAC regular-season title on Monday but will have a chance to do so with wins in either of their final two matches.

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