The University of Utah women’s soccer team did not just refresh its roster for 2026. It replaced almost the entire match-day core: 18 first-year Utes, the most newcomers on record since the program’s 1995 founding, including 12 transfers and six freshmen, against only 10 returning letterwinners and zero of 11 starters from a year ago. Three weeks into the season, that overhaul has already met a statewide shuffle — and a result Utah had never produced. On Aug. 30 in St. George, Utah Tech beat the Utes 2-1 for the Trailblazers’ first power-conference victory of the Division I era, dropping Utah to 2-2-1.
How Utah got here
Head coach Hideki Nakada, hired May 27, 2021 as the program’s third head coach, is in his sixth season after seven years on Stanford’s staff, including two NCAA titles. His 2024 Utes went 8-6-5 and 5-3-3 in the Big 12, Utah’s best league mark since 2018. In 2025 the floor dropped: 7-10-3 overall, 2-7-2 in conference and a 13th-place Big 12 finish, with the last NCAA Tournament appearance still sitting in 2019. Nakada’s club did hit a program milestone on Sept. 11, 2025, winning its 300th match, 2-1 over Utah Tech.
The portal then emptied the locker room. Midfielder Bella Woods, a 2024 Big 12 All-Freshman selection, and goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson transferred to BYU. Midfielder Londyn Lovell, who started 13 of 19 matches and logged 958 minutes as a sophomore in 2025, landed at Utah Valley. Lilliah Blum, Utah’s top returning scorer a year earlier, went to North Carolina. Forwards Kelly Bullock and Ali Swensen left for the professional ranks, with Swensen signing with the Utah Royals.
Nakada told Crimson Corner in June that 2025 Utah “was as good as anyone” in possession between the 18s but “just weren’t sharp enough in the final third,” and that the club had “lost a lot of leadership.” He later said the incoming transfers “bring valuable experience at the collegiate level, while this freshman class has the talent and mentality to compete for playing time right away.” Four of those transfers — Reese Clem, Kori Pickelle, Tatym Dever and Bre'Elle Dean — arrived from NCAA Tournament programs. Eight Utahns are on the 2026 roster, including Lehi native Brooke Gardner, a former Salt Lake Community College First-Team All-American, and Riverton freshman Ava Escobedo, ranked No. 54 in the Class of 2026. Nakada also added assistant Emma Greenwood, who helped Cal Poly Pomona to an 18-3-3 season and a Division II Final Four in 2025.
A statewide transfer market
Utah’s rebuild is only the loudest piece of a Utah-wide roster market. In Provo, Jennifer Rockwood is coaching her 32nd and final season after announcing in June 2026 that she will retire as the only head coach BYU women’s soccer has had since it became a varsity sport in 1995. “While this will be my final season, my focus remains entirely on this incredible group of student-athletes and our goals for 2026,” Rockwood said in a university statement. She entered the year with 26 NCAA Tournament appearances, a 2021 national runner-up finish, a 2023 College Cup semifinal and a 475-143-68 career record.
That last BYU chapter started from a historic 2025 finish. Seeded eighth in the Big 12 Tournament, the Cougars beat TCU on penalty kicks, then shut out Baylor and Kansas 1-0 on Nov. 8 in Waco to become the first No. 8 seed to win the league title. Ellie Walbruch scored five tournament goals; Chelsea Peterson, now a BYU senior after transferring from Utah, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player. BYU went 11-7-6 in 2025, finished eighth in the Big 12 regular season and reached the NCAA Round of 16. Rockwood’s 2026 roster still leans heavily local — Highland, Mapleton, Draper, American Fork, Orem, Saratoga Springs and Salt Lake City are all represented — and added six high-school signees on Nov. 12, 2025, including Lone Peak’s Kate Fuller, a U.S. youth national-team midfielder.
In Orem, Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay is in his 10th season and his first in the Big West after turning the Wolverines into a WAC power. UVU won a fourth straight WAC regular-season title in 2025 at 14-5-3 and 9-0-1, a run that included a 31-match conference regular-season unbeaten streak and Lemay’s 100th career win, a 4-1 result at Abilene Christian on Oct. 30, 2025. California Baptist then eliminated UVU from the WAC Tournament on penalty kicks on Nov. 8. Lemay, a three-time WAC Coach of the Year, answered with four spring transfers: Lovell from Utah, Pleasant Grove defender Tess Livingston from Idaho State, Highland forward Presley Ray from Weber State and goalkeeper Lynette Bryant, who made 38 appearances at BYU. “We aim to restock, not rebuild and we feel like we have again achieved that goal,” Lemay said.
Early results scramble the pecking order
Nakada said one of his 2026 priorities was “the opportunity to play every program in the state of Utah,” a slate he did not believe the Utes had completed before. Those games have not followed the old hierarchy. Utah tied Weber State 0-0 on Aug. 12 at Ute Field, beat UVU 2-0 on Aug. 17 in Orem and Southern Utah 3-0 on Aug. 22, then lost 0-1 at home to Utah State on Aug. 27 and 1-2 at Utah Tech on Aug. 30. The Big 12 preseason poll, released Aug. 3, had picked Utah 11th; TCU was the consensus favorite.
The St. George result was the sharpest data point. Utah outshot the Trailblazers 28-9, but junior goalkeeper Elle Rafajko, a Salt Lake Community College transfer, made nine saves. Shannon Davidson scored 13 seconds into the second half; Abby Olsen equalized 38 seconds later, and 2025 WAC Freshman of the Year Jocelyn Wright finished the winner. “This was the best win I've been a part of in my time here,” Utah Tech Coach Brown said. Utah State had already posted a 1-0 win at UVU on Aug. 24 on an Ellie Hendrix goal. Weber State, which went 12-6-2 in 2025 after winning only two matches in 2024 under Big Sky Coach of the Year Kyle Christensen, left Salt Lake City with a point.
UVU’s restock showed a pulse on Aug. 27, when the Wolverines knocked off No. 17 Kansas 2-1 at UCCU Stadium. BYU, meanwhile, was 3-1 through Aug. 27 after a 1-0 home win over Minnesota; Lucy Kesler and Ellie Walbruch were named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List.
What comes next
Utah’s next test is a five-match road swing that starts at Oregon on Sept. 3, then Oregon State, Long Beach State and a Big 12 opener at Arizona State on Sept. 18. The Utes host TCU on Sept. 24 and do not see BYU until Oct. 30 in Provo, with a Nov. 4 home finale against Kansas State. BYU visits Utah State in Logan on Sept. 10 before opening Big 12 play at Arizona on Sept. 18. Utah Tech travels to Logan on Sept. 3.
The numbers already on the board are the ones the original roster story could not yet show. Utah bet its sixth Nakada season on the largest incoming class in program history. BYU is trying to send Rockwood out as a champion. UVU is carrying four WAC titles into a new league. And Utah Tech, once 0-3 against the Utes, now owns the result that will follow this group until the Big 12 schedule starts in mid-September.
