By Skyler Bell
The BYU men”s soccer team throttled the California Gold 5-0 Friday night, June 25, at home one week after a pair of disappointing results against the Gold.
The win ended an intense three-game series with the Gold and brought the Cougars to 5-7-1 on the season. In the series” first game, a California penalty kick in the 90th minute evened the score at 2-2, while it was all Gold in game two. BYU was looking to avenge the loss and heartbreaking tie coming into game three.
“I like our chances,” BYU assistant coach Brian Jolley said before the game. “The guys do a pretty good job of finding weaknesses and improving on them. This year, we can play with anyone and we”ve proven that.”
When the Gold took the field for their pre-game warm-up, it looked as if they had enough healthy players to have 11 men available to play. BYU coach Chris Watkins was not fooled, however, remembering that two of their players had been suspended for flagrant fouls during previous games. Thanks to a tenacious defensive effort by BYU, the Gold were held to four shots throughout the match.
“They played short, but we would have beat them either way,” Watkins said. “Obviously, I”d love for this game not to be against nine men, but we followed the game plan and won. We pounded them; there was never a doubt.”
During the first half, the Cougars ripped 15 shots, leading to three goals. In the 20th minute, the duo of Chris Lamb and Matt Affleck combined for their first of two goals when Affleck passed to Lamb and Lamb found the back of the net. Lightning struck again in the 38th minute on a similar play, making the score 2-0.
“That”s what we”ve been trying to work on in practice between the forwards,” Lamb said. “That”s really what sets up goals and it felt good tonight. A couple passes between me and Matt and a couple more that could have been. It was a good night.”
The Gold soon realized, however, that Affleck was not through. Off a run from the weak side, he deflected a cross from senior Brad Peterson into the goal, making it 3-0 at halftime.
Continuing a brilliant scoring streak, Affleck showed remarkable foot skill as he received a pass from midfielder Gil Gaertner before beating two defenders and hitting the net for his seventh goal in his last five complete games.
“Our guys were very organized tonight,” Watkins said. “It helps to finish a few balls, but it”s nice to be a coach and be able to sit back and relax. Any time we can scout an opponent, we feel good about our chances. We have a great coaching staff, a good game plan, and certainly that showed tonight.”
Following the Cougars” build-from-the-back, side-to-side style, defender Mike Rogers joined the attack and spun a ball from left to right across the 18-yard-line to of Gaertner, who headed it into the goal, making the final score 5-0.
On Friday, the Cougars take on the Yakima Reds in game two of BYU”s four-game homestand before leaving on the road for the final two games of the season.
“There”s a strong feeling of confidence now,” Watkins said. “Our forwards are feeling good striking the ball right now, our midfielders did a great job holding possession, so there”s a lot of things to feel good about. We feel that if we play our best, we can win against Yakima. There”s a lot to be excited about.”
