Even after two periods of overtime, No. 20 BYU and Rice couldn’t seem to find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 score.
This was the second tie of the season for the Cougars, and head coach Jennifer Rockwood wasn’t thrilled with the outcome.
“You have to be your best when you play against quality teams, and Rice is a very good team,” Rockwood said. “They took away pretty much all of our offense. We are used to having the ball and getting more looks and shots, but they took those away from us and we couldn’t solve the problems they posed out on the field tonight.”
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The Owls fired the first threatening shots in the final minute of the first half, but each attempt did not get them the goal they wanted.
The Cougars seemed to come out stronger during the second half, displaying more of the skills and control BYU fans are used to seeing from the team. Forward Colette Jepson credits this change to the halftime talk the Cougars received from their coaches.
“We have a great coaching staff,” Jepson said. ” They are definitely able to pick out our little flaws and we were able to fix them at halftime.”
BYU had opportunities for shots in the second half, but couldn’t get the ball into the net, sending them into two 10-minute overtime periods. During the overtime periods, the Cougars once again fired a couple aggressive shots that were just inches away from going in, which Rockwood found unacceptable.
“You have to put those shots on frame,” Rockwood said. “There is no excuse for that.”
Both overtime periods ended with no goals from either team, and Jepson said the Cougars were unhappy with the outcome.
“It feels like a loss honestly,” Jepson said. “I played 110 minutes and couldn’t get the ball in the goal, so I definitely take responsibility for this.”
Coach Rockwood echoed this frustration and acknowledged that this wasn’t BYU’s best.
“It is disappointing to not play our best on our own field with the great fans that we get and the support that we have,” Rockwood said. “These girls work hard for these moments and as coaches you put a lot of time into these moments. We weren’t prepared to play our best tonight and you can’t expect to have success when your not your best.”
