The men’s soccer team began their return to the collegiate club level on Friday with a 1-1 draw against Utah State in Logan.
“Massive credit to the USU players for putting in 90 minutes of defensive work,” said BYU coach Brandon Gilliam.
Forward Cameron McLaughlin had the lone goal for the Cougars when he found the back of the net in the first half. BYU scored two more goals that were disallowed by the referee, one off a corner and the other off a penalty kick.
Defense was the name of the game for the Aggies, as they packed the majority of their team around the goal box for most of the game.
“It was honestly quite frustrating actually,” said goalkeeper Austin Bagley. “We dominated possession and passing the whole game.”
BYU controlled possession for most of the game but just could not seem to find that second goal.
“The team should have finished USU off and scored one or two more goals, but (we had) heavy legs and lack of sharpness in the final moments,” Gilliam said.
He added that the team had only one hour of practice yesterday with the full squad and that six players on the team returned from missions only a month ago, possibly contributing to the team’s overall lack of sharpness and organization.
Both coach and players expressed excitement, however, about getting to play in front of a home crowd for their first fall game at BYU in 15 years.
They will look to get their first win of the season when they take on the University of Utah at South Field on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
