One of Utah college soccer’s most familiar local dates is off the 2026 calendar.
BYU and Utah Valley confirmed Wednesday that their near-annual crosstown women’s soccer matchup has been canceled for 2026. No explanation was provided for the decision.
The game had already been listed on both schools’ spring schedules. Utah Valley’s nonconference slate for what will be its first season in the Big West included nine matches, with seven of them at home. That list featured the Aug. 13 season opener against Michigan, along with home games against Utah, Utah State, Kansas, San Diego State and Weber State.
The Cougars and Wolverines had been set to meet for the 11th time in program history, and only the third time with Utah Valley hosting in Orem.
BYU’s schedule also showed 10 matches at South Field, split evenly with four home dates and four road games before Big 12 play. The Aug. 31 matchup would have been the lone road game in a five-match stretch that also included USC, Minnesota, Colorado State and Oklahoma at South Field before a Sept. 10 trip to Utah State.
BYU said the rivalry game will not be rescheduled or replaced, which means the earliest the teams could see each other again is 2027. That would also come in BYU’s first season under a new head coach after Jennifer Rockwood announced her retirement this fall following more than three decades with the program.
Rockwood, who briefly played basketball at Ricks College before transferring to BYU, took over the women’s soccer club program when she graduated in 1988 and guided the team through its move to NCAA Division I seven years later. In that span, the Cougars piled up more than 470 wins, 26 NCAA Tournament appearances, two College Cup semifinals and 29 winning seasons, including 19 postseason top-25 rankings.
BYU opens the season Wednesday, Aug. 12 at UCLA.
Utah Valley hosts Michigan on Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. MT at UCCU Stadium.
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