By ELIZABETH PALMER
The BYU men’s soccer team delivered an old-fashioned whipping to the University of Utah Utes Saturday night, beating them 8-0 at the South Field.
Seven players scored for the Cougars, giving BYU head coach Chris Watkins the results he expected from the game.
“We certainly expect to beat Utah,” he said. “(They are) a pretty unorganized team right now.”
Sophomore forward Nate Lowe, who scored two goals for the Cougars, said the traditional BYU/Utah rivalry isn’t very intense in men’s soccer.
“Usually there’s tough games in a rivalry,” he said. “(In a good rivalry) you expect that either team has a chance to win, but we didn’t feel like they could win.”
Saturday’s game was basically decided within the first 15 minutes of play.
Senior defender Dave Bryan converted a penalty kick to give BYU a 1-0 lead near the ten-minute mark.
Junior midfielder Bryce Jolley quickly added another goal, scoring off a pass from freshman defender Chad Olyer. Lowe added his first goal moments later, giving the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
Still holding the three-goal lead at halftime, Watkins was able to play most of his team in the second half.
“Tonight was a great chance to play a lot of guys,” he said. “We played our second team (in the second half) and our second team beat them 5-0.”
Lowe opened the second-half scoring with a kick high over the goalie into the top of the net. Junior forward Mike Essig kicked in a goal off a rebound five minutes later to put his team out in front by five.
Watkins said games against opponents you expect to beat are harder to get excited about.
“We’ve never lost to them,” he said. “It’s a little hard to get up for a game like this. Motivation is tough this time of year.”
Still, Lowe said these kinds of games can be educational.
“You don’t expect (Utah) to be much of a challenge,” he said. “But you have to learn to motivate yourself.”
The Cougars added three more goals before the game was over, including one scored on a penalty kick by freshman midfielder Christian Russell.
Utah’s frustration was evident, as the game featured one red and one yellow card called on Ute players.
