Utah Opens at Home Against a Weber State Team That Expects to Win

Utah women's soccer opened its 2026 season on August 12 against a Weber State team that walked in expecting to win its league, and the two drew 0-0, per both schools' recaps. The Utes hosted the Wildcats at 7 p.m. at Ute Field, the first night the stadium lit up for the new season — and the first real test of a summer's worth of preparation.

The opener carries more weight than a typical Week 1 because of who is on the other side. Weber State was picked first in the Big Sky preseason poll, which turns an in-state opener into a genuine measuring stick: a Big Sky favorite against a Big 12 program, both trying to learn something before the results start to count.

The tuneup: a loss Utah could live with

Utah arrived at the opener off a 1-0 exhibition loss to No. 13 Colorado on August 5 at Community Hospital Unity Field in Grand Junction. The scoreline understated Utah's play. Utah hit the woodwork twice and created a handful of quality chances in the final third against one of the top-ranked teams in the country.

Head coach Hideki Nakada framed the exhibition as exactly what his group needed — a chance to measure itself against elite competition and learn more about who the Utes are before the season starts. Against a nationally ranked opponent in the final tuneup, an even run of play and two shots off the frame is the kind of performance that travels into a season opener, even without a result attached.

The value of a game like that is diagnostic. Utah does not have to win a preseason friendly against a top-15 side; it has to find out whether its press holds up, whether newcomers look comfortable at that speed, and whether the finishing that hit the post starts finding the net. The answers to those questions arrive August 12.

Weber State is not a soft landing

If Utah wanted an easy opener, the schedule did not provide one. Weber State enters as the Big Sky favorite, having collected 74 points and five first-place votes in the preseason coaches' poll — the clear pick to win the conference after reaching a championship appearance a season ago.

The Wildcats also placed four players on the preseason all-conference team, the most of any school in the league. Reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year goalkeeper Lauren Butorac and defender Isabella Sackett anchor a back line that carried Weber State deep last year, while Lily Blum and Oakley Anderson give the Wildcats recognized threats going the other way. That is a balanced, battle-tested spine walking into Salt Lake City with a target on its back and the confidence to match.

For Weber State, the opener is its own kind of statement. A Big Sky favorite that opens on the road against a Big 12 program has a chance to prove the preseason vote right before conference play even begins. Both teams, in other words, have something to gain from a game that counts in only one of their conference standings.

What Utah's August looks like after this

The Weber State opener is the front door to a demanding in-state stretch. After the Wildcats, Utah's August schedule runs through a cluster of familiar names, with matchups against Utah Valley, Southern Utah and Utah State also on the calendar during the month.

That is a useful runway. Rather than easing into nonconference play against unfamiliar opponents, Utah spends the opening weeks against teams its fans know and its players have history with — a series of in-state tests that double as scouting for the coaching staff. By the time the calendar turns, the Utes will have a clear read on their depth chart, their press and their finishing.

It also fits a broader picture that has built all summer: Utah women's soccer sits inside a state where nearly every program is entering a new or elevated conference at once, from Weber State's Big Sky title chase to Utah Tech's first Big Sky season. The August in-state slate is where those overlapping storylines actually meet on the field.

The bottom line

Utah did what a team is supposed to do in a final exhibition: it tested itself against a top-15 opponent, generated real chances, and came away with a clear to-do list rather than a hollow win. Now the margin for a diagnostic loss disappears.

The opener answers the first real questions of the season — against a Weber State team that believes it should win the Big Sky, on a night the lights come on at Ute Field for the first time in 2026. The exhibition was for learning. August 12 is for keeping score.

Follow the season on the Weber State women's soccer team page.

Follow the season on the Utah women's soccer team page.

Key facts:

• Opener: Utah vs. Weber State, August 12, 7 p.m., Ute Field — a 0-0 draw
• Last tuneup: Utah fell 1-0 to No. 13 Colorado (August 5, Grand Junction); hit the woodwork twice
• Weber State: picked first in the Big Sky (74 points, five first-place votes), reached a championship appearance last season
• Wildcats' preseason all-conference four: GK Lauren Butorac (reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year), D Isabella Sackett, Lily Blum, Oakley Anderson
• Utah's August: in-state matchups with Utah Valley, Southern Utah and Utah State also on the calendar

*Update, Sept. 27, 2026: Utah and Weber State drew 0-0 at Ute Field on August 12; Weber State goalkeeper Lauren Butorac made seven saves, according to Weber State's recap.*

*Update, Sept. 27, 2026: Utah was 4-5-2 and 1-2 in the Big 12 after beating No. 23 UCF 2-0 at Ute Field on September 27, which Utah's recap called the program's first win over a ranked team since October 26, 2023.*

*Update, Oct. 10, 2026: Weber State drew 1-1 at Idaho in its Big Sky opener on October 1, won 3-2 at Eastern Washington on October 4 and beat Utah Tech 5-0 at Wildcat Soccer Field on October 8, and was 6-5-2 and 2-0-1 in the Big Sky as of October 10, per its schedule. Utah drew 1-1 at Iowa State on October 1 and lost 1-0 at Cincinnati on October 8, and was 4-6-3 and 1-3-1 in the Big 12 as of October 10, per its schedule.*