BYU men’s soccer defeated the Pali Blues 5-1 Saturday in a game that began late because of a lightning warning by Brigham Young University.
BYU came out strong in the first half. Although the score was 0-0 at halftime, BYU had more shots on goal and better possession of the ball. After missing nine attempted shots BYU was determined to score in the second half.
BYU’s bad luck finally ended during the 56th minute of the game when BYU defender Alex Neff scored the first goal of the night with an assist from Romy Lakip. Soon after, midfielder Doug Clark scored another goal, with an assist from Blake Frischkenecht. Frischkenecht then earned his second assist of the game, setting up Bryson Pope with a back-door shot.
“We had a lot of chances, and it took awhile to start scoring, but once we did we wore them down. We were confident that the goal would come; we weren’t in panic,' Clark said.
Frischkenecht, known as the “new hero of the team,” provided another assist later on to forward Jonathan Junca, who scored on a one-on-one versus the Pali Blues goalie. BYU was comfortable with its 4-0 win and began to focus on defending its lead. But when Matt Rider saw his opportunity he attacked the goal and scored, unassisted
The game was almost a shut out. In the last minutes of the game, the Pali Blues scored off a penalty kick. BYU ended the game 5-1.
“It’s fun to score five goals in front of a large crowd,” BYU head coach Chris Watkins said. This win adds to the Cougars' record of 5-6-1.