CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University soccer team closed its 2026 season in a hard-fought battle against Utah Tech University that ended 0-2 at Thunderbird Soccer Field on Thursday, Nov. 5. The T-Birds had a chance to play in the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a win, but they’ll just miss the cut this year.
This ends head coach Steven Lindquist’s first season with SUU. The Thunderbirds went 3-12-3 last year but finished 5-10-3 for the season and 2-5-2 in Big Sky play under Lindquist.
Utah Tech ended 8-6-4 for the season and 4-2-3 in conference play. This is the second season in a row that SUU lost to the Trailblazers to end the campaign.
The game
Utah Tech opened the scoring 28 minutes in when forward Lataya Brost found the net to put the Trailblazers up 1-0. Southern Utah struggled to create scoring opportunities, recording just four shots in the opening half and forcing no saves.
Freshman goalkeeper Tatum Trout made three of her seven saves in the first half, keeping the Thunderbirds in range to score. However, SUU wasn’t able to produce a goal and Utah Tech led going into the half.
The T-Birds came out aggressively after the break and recorded 10 of their 14 shots in the second half, with two on goal. Forward Gracen Blieschke led the team with five shots including two on goal. Kayleigh Acree added three shots and Sofia Alcorn recorded SUU’s only other shot on goal.
However, Utah Tech extended their lead in the 63rd minute with a goal from forward Jocelyn Wright, and the T-Birds didn’t have a chance to respond. The match ended 2-0 in favor of the Trailblazers.
A season of standouts
Trout finished strong with four more saves in the second half. She ended her freshman season with 88 saves and started all 18 matches.
Defender Rylan Tebbs extended her record of most career starts by a Cedar City native to 48 appearances for SUU, tying the record for Cedar City native starts with 40. Tebbs also started all of SUU’s 18 matches, along with Trout, Brooklyn Bradley, Dakota Hansen, Suika Shibutani, Ashlyn Woodbury and Nao Yasuda.
Despite the season-ending loss, Southern Utah showed great improvement this season under new head coach Steven Lindquist. The Thunderbirds ended with five wins and 30 goals scored, which is the second-highest single-season total in SUU women’s soccer program history. The team also allowed just 26 goals, the lowest recorded for the program since 2022.
Farewell, T-Birds
Nao Yasuda and Kayleigh Acree will be graduating and departing the team after this season.
Yasuda joined SUU last year, ending the 2025 season tied for the team lead in assists and ranking No. 4 in minutes. She saw the pitch more than any other T-Bird and only sat out for an average of seven minutes per game.
Acree was one of the more assertive Thunderbirds, ranking second on the team in shots and third in shots on goal. She had one goal on the year and made nine starts, playing in all but one game. She also played for SUU last season.
Season team leaders
Goals – Ashlyn O’Malley (7), Gracen Blieschke (5), Ashtyn Ivey, Sophia Memory (3)
Assists – Gracen Blieschke (4), Keira Barker, Sicily Clark (3), Ashlyn O’Malley, Maddie Moss, Bridget Guevara (2)
Points – Ashlyn O’Malley (16), Gracen Blieschke (14), Ashtyn Ivey (7), Sophia Memory (6)
Minutes – Nao Yasuda (1489), Rylan Tebbs (1446), Tatum Trout (1439), Ashlyn Woodbury (1417)
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Author: Lexie Nelson
Photo by SUU Athletics
Editor: Payson Davis
sports@suunews.net
