By Amanda Egbert
The Cougars restored their winning pace on Saturday night when star midfielder Jamie Beck found the back of TCU?s net nine minutes into the game.
“We”ve won every game when we score first,” Beck said. “It”s so important to be the first team to score. Thursday”s loss motivated us to come out and show them how we can play.”
Beck fired the shot from 25 yards out after a short sideways tap from teammate Natalie Nate off a free kick.
?The first goal is important,? BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. ?It is a confidence booster. The girls feed off of it.?
Fellow Cougars exemplified this by scoring three additional goals in the second half against TCU.
Charlene Lui dropped the ball just over TCU?s keeper off a pass from Katie Larkin and Carolyn Swenson for the second goal.
?One of our strengths is that we can score from any position,? Rockwood said. ?On any given night anyone can score.?
Beck struck again 60 minutes into the game, tapping the ball in after receiving Brooke Thulin?s famous flip throw. This marked Beck?s eighth goal for the season.
After five shots, Annie Zwahlen found her opportunity and scored goal 4 for the Cougars. Heidi Dearborn and Whitney Feller?s passes found Zwahlen on a break away. Zwahlen faked past her defender and launched the ball, hitting the bottom of the cross bar and bouncing in after a deflection by TCU?s keeper.
?It”s been awhile since I”ve scored,? Zwahlen said. ?It”s nice to get that goal, especially coming off a loss.?
Connecting and capitalizing on scoring opportunities were the differences that lead the Cougars to a 4-0 victory against TCU, recovering from their first loss (1-0) against New Mexico on Thursday.
Two games into conference play BYU now stands at 12-1-1 for the season.
Saturday BYU controlled the field. Passes were connected, patterns were completed, and shots were fired. With perfect passes, fakes and teamwork the Cougars succeeded.
?There was lots of energy,? Rockwood said. ?We attacked tonight, which we failed to do Thursday.?
BYU struggled to find scoring opportunities against New Mexico. After the Lobo?s game winning goal, the entire team collapsed, halting the Cougars from their scoring opportunities.
?We didn”t get the job done in the first half, [vs. New Mexico]” Rockwood said. “We controlled most of the game, but that doesn”t mean anything at the end of the game. We were too content in the first half.?
