BYU men’s soccer redeemed itself after a sluggish first half to a comeback win against the Real Colorado Foxes 2-1 at the South Field Tuesday night in Provo.
Head coach Chris Watkins was pleased with how the Cougars (7-2-0) played after being down 1-0 at halftime.
“We did a good job controlling the rhythm of the game tonight,” Watkins said.
However, despite the Cougars’ overwhelming advantage in time of possession, Colorado struck first. Defender Ri Armstrong found the back of the net from 30 yards out, leaving the Cougars reeling for the rest of the half.
Sloppy play plagued the Cougars as they struggled to keep the ball on target for much of the first half. The best chance for the home side came with some one-two play between midfielder Colby Bauer and Blake Frischnecht, but ultimately, neither found the net in the first half.
The second half opened with another great opportunity for Colorado. Defender Mark Dotseth gathered a bad clearance and almost found the bottom right corner of the goal, but BYU keeper Brian Hale was up for the task and made an untroubled save.
BYU’s equalizer came from Winston Sorhaitz when a poor clearance from the Colorado keeper left the net wide open. The striker’s shot was initially deflected but slowly inched its way across the line bringing the Cougars level in the 49th minute.
BYU’s Blake Frischnecht headed in the game-winner in the 81st minute. A cross from substitute Pedro Vasconcelos found Frischnecht at the top of the six-yard box, and he buried the ball into the top left corner to give the Cougars a lead they would not relinquish.
When asked how it felt to score a Van Persie-like goal, Frischnecht simply said, “It feels great!”
While the Cougars earned a winning result, it wasn’t their best showing of the season. Many improvements can still be made.
“We’ve got to be a little bit more dangerous with our minds and our runs,” Watkins said. “We need to know where to run and when.”
Next up for the Cougars is an away match against the same Colorado Foxes on June 27 in Littleton, Colorado.
