Utah Valley women beat North Dakota

OREM, Utah -  Senior Lauren Bluth scored with 24 seconds left in the game to give Utah Valley a 2-1 victory over Great West Conference opponent North Dakota.

Junior Camille Broderick assisted on both of the goals and sophomore Regan Clifford scored the first goal for the Wolverines, who improve to 5-7-1 overall and 2-0 in GWC action.

"I was very proud of our girls for responding the way they did after going down that first goal," said UVU head coach Brent Anderson. "They came back really quickly to get us on level ground and then they fought through to the end."

Even though the Wolverines had some early chances to score, the first half finished in a 0-0 tie. In the 23rd minute senior Katey Turner was through on goal, but her shot was deflected away by North Dakota goalkeeper Monica Stierman. The Wolverines finished the half with four shots on goal.

Shortly after switching sides, Fighting Sioux (1-11, 1-1) sophomore Rhaya Ballon found herself in a one-on-one position and buried a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Only two minutes later, in the 49th minute, Broderick fired a strike from the top of the box that was blocked by Stierman. The rebound fell to Clifford who wasted no time finishing the deflection.

With only 24 seconds left in regulation, Broderick was in a great position once again and headed a ball into Bluth who slipped the ball past the goalkeeper. Senior Kendra Buchanan was also credited for an assist on the play.

The Wolverines have extended their conference unbeaten streak to 11 games in regular season and tournament play.

"Our goal is to repeat what we did last year and that is what we are working for every day," added Anderson. "We set up a very tough pre-conference schedule, but in the end it pays off for us because it prepares us for these type of games."

UVU will host their final two home matches of the season against South Dakota on Saturday and North Dakota State next Monday. Both games will be played at noon MT.