BYU continues its winning streak with a 2-0 win over Texas A&M, marking BYU’s first 5-0 start in nine years. This also marks the second time in less than a week that a BYU team has taken down an SEC team.
Played in front of the rowdy crowd of just under of 4,000 fans, the game is BYU’s third win against an SEC team this season, its fourth shutout and fifth win overall. The Cougars have outscored their opponents 14-1 so far this season.
The night started off fast with both teams playing aggressively. BYU turned on the attack, which BYU soccer head coach Jennifer Rockwood said the team has been working on lately.
“We just wanted to go at them as hard as we could from the very beginning. We take a lot of pride in our attack right now. We’ve got such dangerous attacking players,” Rockwood said.
This offensive attack that Rockwood mentioned proved to be an effective defensive tool as well. The aggressive play helped BYU shutdown the Aggies defense. This energy helped them control the game; BYU totaled 22 shots, 10 on goal, compared to Texas A&M’s four shots total.
Texas A&M utilized its bench early in the game with five substitutions in the first 25 minutes. This trend continued throughout as the Aggies tried to stay fresh against the constant attack from BYU.
BYU scored its first goal 34 minutes in. As the Cougars forced their way into the attacking third of the field, Josie Guinn fired the ball to the center and Elise Flake got a foot on the ball to send it rolling past the goal line and into the net.
Within the subsequent three minutes, Flake again forced her way to the top of the penalty box with the ball. This time she sliced through the defenders and notched her second goal of the night and sixth goal this season.
“One thing Jen talks a lot about is getting two goals in the first half. Once we get one, we just got to put the second one away.” Flake said.
Flake also emphasized the current mindset mentioned by coach Rockwood that the best defense is a good offense; something that was clearly successful for the Cougars against Texas A&M.
Coming into the second half, the Aggies made key adjustments in an effort to shut down BYU’s attack. They were able to fend off another goal but were unsuccessful on offense. Texas A&M goalie Shantel Hutton shined in the second half with eight saves.
At 51 minutes in, Texas A&M had its first of two corner kicks of the night. Aggie midfielder Cienna Arrieta smashed the ball to the center of the box where BYU headed it out immediately, a common theme for the Aggie offense as they couldn’t seem to get many shots off.
BYU held off its opponents the entire second half, cementing the 2-0 win. The Cougars will now get ready to drive down University Parkway as they get set to take on Utah Valley University at Clyde Field on Sept. 16.
