By Ashlee Headlee
After playing a game of catch-up, the BYU women’s soccer team couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net, resulting in a 2-0 loss against the University of Oklahoma on Saturday.
“The team is definitely frustrated at the results,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We played really well on Thursday night against the No. 2 team in the country, and then came out this afternoon probably not as focused as we needed to be. We gave up some goals at the beginning of the game and just didn’t play to our potential. We really underachieved today and that is always frustrating.”
The Sooners scored two quick goals in the 16th and 20th minutes and out-shot the Cougars 6-1 in the first half, which was startling to Rockwood.
“I can’t remember the last time a BYU team hasn’t been able to get off shots in the first half,” Rockwood said. “It was a lack of being ready to be in the game and not being able to receive the ball, control and connect. It seems like everybody was a little bit off, and when you leave doubts like that, you’re not doing your best.”
Although BYU came out slow in the first half, the Cougars out-shot their opponent during the second half 6-4 and were able to turn their game around and play with more passion, according to goalkeeper McKinzie Olson.
“I think we battled hard in the second half and I am proud of the effort we put in,” Olson said. “We couldn’t put our shots away, but I think that we have a lot to learn from today and hopefully we can use what we learn for games in the future.”
The Cougars return home after having lost both of their away games in Oklahoma.
BYU battled hard in its first away game against No. 2 Oklahoma State but was unable to come away with a victory.
The Cowgirls scored a goal in the last four minutes of the first half, but junior forward Jaiden Thornock got BYU back on the scoreboard, which took the game into overtime. Both teams fought to be the first to score in the “golden goal” 10-minute overtime period, but it was Oklahoma State who came out the victors with a final score of 2-1.
While adding two losses to the season is tough on a team, Rockwood kept a positive outlook for the future.
“Hopefully we can improve and work to get better,” Rockwood said. “That is all we can do at this point.”
