Cougars fans will have two opportunities to see the Women’s Soccer team in action at South Field this week. The team will take on LSU Thursday and then host Long Beach State two days later.
BYU comes off a hard week, starting with a Monday loss to the Baylor Bears.
“It’s hard to chase the game, especially at home, when you didn’t play as best as you can for 45 minutes,” BYU women’s head coach Jennifer Rockwood said after the loss.
Freshman Elisabeth “Bizzy” Phillips put the only points on the board for the Cougars with a penalty kick in the 89th minute of the game. It was a case of too little too late, however, for the team, with the final result coming to a 2-1 loss. Missed chances seemed to be what held the Cougars back from notching yet another win at South Field.
“We had opportunities; we just didn’t finish them,” Phillips said.
With high hopes the team looked to move on but was stopped Friday when it was served a heartbreaking defeat in the Holy War, losing 1-0 on a late penalty kick by Katie Taylor, of Utah. The Cougars outshot the Utes, but in the end the shot difference wouldn’t be the deciding factor in the game’s outcome. Missed opportunities left something to be desired, and a penalty was the difference.
“We had plenty of opportunities to score in the first half, and it shouldn’t have had to come down to that,” Rockwood said in a post-game press release.
The Cougars look forward this week to two exciting home games, hoping to put the losses behind them and break open the much-needed scoring. Through five games the team has only tallied three goals, with one of the three coming from Phillips’ penalty kick against Baylor.
Both games this week are rematches from last year, notching a 4-2 besting of LSU but losing to Long Beach State in a 1-0 loss. LSU will hit Provo first, on Thursday at 6 p.m. (MDT). The Tigers, who have played five out of six games at home, will not only face a BYU team hungry for a win but will also face a packed crowd hungry for a win as well.
The Cougars hope to rebound from last year’s loss at Long Beach State and will take on the 49ers Saturday at 7 p.m. (MDT).
BYU has a real chance this week to put the missed opportunities behind it and take advantage of the new opportunities presented.
