The BYU women’s soccer team gave head coach Jennifer Rockwood one of the best birthday presents a coach could ask for when the Cougars won 5-0 against the University of Idaho on Tuesday.
The Cougars played strong the entire game, reaching a season high of 25 shots and out-shooting the Vandals 25-5. BYU’s goals came from four different players with junior Carlee Payne scoring two.
“This was a really important game for us,” Rockwood said. “We had a frustrating weekend and sometimes when that happens you start questioning, so we had to talk about our confidence and believing in ourselves.”
BYU came out strong in the first half, controlling the ball well and connecting passes. While the Cougars had plenty of threatening breakaways that resulted in shots, they weren’t able to get the ball into the net until the final minute of the first half when freshman forward Jaiden Thornock came into the game with a burst of energy and fired a shot past the goalkeeper, giving BYU a 1-0 lead.
“We really got off to a great start even though we didn’t score in the beginning when we had those chances,” Rockwood said. “The girls didn’t get frustrated,which they could have, and they continued to battle and fight and Jaiden put a great goal away for us.”
But putting goals away wasn’t a problem for the Cougars in the second half.
Only a couple minutes after halftime, Payne dribbled past multiple defenders and fired off a shot, giving BYU a 2-0 lead. Just six minutes later, she once again found the ball at her feet and scored her second goal of the game. Jennie Marshall and Megan Fereday each scored a goal later in the second half resulting in the shut-out victory against the Vandals.
“It felt great to put two goals in,” Payne said. “We have struggled in preseason a little bit so it feels great to come out and put away five goals as a team and come off with confidence.”
While the team was excited about the win, Rockwood said their hearts ached for senior forward Auna Doria who suffered a knee injury early in the game.
“It was disappointing to see Auna go down,” Rockwood said. “It’s really hard. She has worked so hard and has had such a great year.”
Rockwood said Doria will probably be out for the rest of the season.
