With nine saves by goalkeeper McKinzie Olson, the BYU women’s soccer team added another win to its season, beating Cal State Fullerton 2-1 Friday in front of a home crowd of more than 4,000.
“McKinzie came up huge and saved us a few times with some unbelievable saves,” said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “We hope that McKinzie never has to touch the ball, but Fullerton came out dangerous today especially on their corner kicks and that is what McKinzie trains hard for every day; that when she is needed and called upon she gets the job done, and she certainly did that for us today. She is definitely the player of the match.”
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“You know, no one is going to play a perfect game,” Olson said in an interview with BYUtv. ” I trust the girls on my team and I wouldn’t want to step on the field with anyone else.”
The game was evenly matched with no goals seen until the 19th minute when BYU defender Cami Jensen attempted to clear the ball from a dangerous spot in the box. Instead, the ball spun off the wrong side of her foot and into the back of BYU’s own net.
BYU forward Auna Doria said mistakes like that happen, but it is important to keep focus.
“You just have to tell yourself to play in the moment and only focus on what is happening in the game right then,” Doria said.
BYU seemed to do just that, and in the 26th minute, Doria lofted the ball off her left foot and over the head of Cal State Fullerton’s goalkeeper, tying the game at 1-1.
BYU’s strength appeared in the second half when junior Colette Jepson launched the ball upfield to Doria, who once again found herself with the ball in Cal State Fullerton’s box. Doria then made a quick pass back to senior forward Jennie Marshall, who fired the game winning shot, making BYU the victors.
“I saw the ball and was running after it hoping I could get there, but when iI got there I felt like I didn’t have a very good angle,” Doria said. ” I looked back and Jennie was there so I passed it to her knowing she was going to hit a great shot because she is amazing.”
