After a slow start, the BYU men’s soccer team came out triumphant in its match versus in-state rival Utah Valley with a 2-0 victory.
It was a battle from the beginning. The Cougars could not find the back of the net in the first half despite the fact that the team had six shots on goal and possessed the ball for the majority of the time in UVU territory.
“We had a lot of the possession in the first half,” said BYU forward Scott Heaton. “We had a lot of chances moving forward; the only problem was we just couldn’t finish our shots.”
During halftime, head coach Chris Watkins told his players they needed to be more patient and to shoot for a purpose. He stressed the fact that the team had made too many small mistakes in the first half and the team needed to find the open player and make the pass.
In the second half, the Cougars were determined to be more patient and play better as a team.
After dodging a hard tackle from a UVU player, Heaton used his strength to zig-zag through a couple of Wolverine defenders and find himself one-on-one with the keeper. Without hesitation, Heaton kicked the ball to the far post and scored the first goal of the match.
This goal was really special for Heaton since he was unable to play with the team last season because of surgery on both hips. Over the summer he had worked extremely hard to put on muscle and gain back some of his former strength. His hard work has paid off, and he has been able to put on eight pounds of muscle to make sure he can hold his own for the season.
Late in the match, while in UVU territory, Blake Frischknecht skillfully controlled the ball and was able to find his teammate John Junca, who blasted the ball and scored the easy goal to give the Cougars the 2-0 lead.
“I played the first half, and I felt like I underperformed,” Junca said. “I came in the second half wanting to score. Blake and I had a good connection. He played a great ball to me. I just cut it across and finished.”
The Cougars are now 2-0 in their fall schedule, and the team will host two games next week. On Friday at 7 p.m., the team will play its annual alumni game; on Saturday at 7 p.m., the team will host its in-state rival Utah.
