Coming off its first home win of the season, the Cougars look to carry its momentum into the next home game against in-state rival Ogden on Saturday night.
BYU has a 16-2-2 record against the Outlaws winning six of the past seven matches. The Cougars have outscored Ogden 13-3 in the series and look to increase that goal count. The last time these teams met, BYU came out on top with a 1-0 victory in Odgen. It was a hard fought game with 26 combined fouls and nine cautions.
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The Cougars will be missing the defensive strength of sophomore midfielder Ethan Meyer. In his last game against the Los Angeles Legends, Meyer received his fifth yellow card of the season after a slide tackle in the 22nd minute. This infraction, according to the team’s media director Jarom Jordan, forfeits his eligibility to play in the next match.
The Outlaws are currently ranked last in the Southwest division and have allowed 28 goals so far this season. This could be a great opportunity for the Cougars to come out of the scoring slump it has been experiencing this season, having only scored 10 goals, three of which came in the win last Saturday.
“Our problem is we just can’t finish,” BYU coach Chris Watkins said in response to the team’s scoring woes. “We are at a disadvantage because we can’t just go out and pick scorers like these other teams. We are limited to the students we have. These guys [Ventura County Fusion] have a Jamaican national player on the field.”
BYU plays in the Premier Development League, the top level of men’s amateur soccer in the U.S., where teams recruit players to prepare them for professional soccer. The Cougars view its PDL team as a college extension and have only BYU students on the roster.
However, there is hope for the Cougars offensive production. Freshman Winston Sorhaitz has scored a goal in each of his first two starts since graduating from Pleasant Grove High School a month ago.
“We are building right now,” Sorhaitz said, after his first college goal last Thursday. “We’ve struggled a little bit, but we are definitely getting better.”
Watkins commented on some of the other players he is counting on to lift the Cougars.
“We have good players. We have two good scorers that just got off missions,” Watkins said. “They just need to keep practicing getting it in the net and refine their skills.”
After tomorrow’s game, BYU has invited fans to stay in the stands to enjoy the firework show from “Stadium of Fire” at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
*If room put in an info box containing Who: BYU Cougars vs. Odgen Oulaws When: July 2, Where: BYU South Field, Admission: $6
