No. 25 BYU women’s soccer took down Utah 2-1 Saturday to wrap up its non-conference play.
This rivalry had fans piling in as there was only standing room remaining to watch the Cougars face off against the Utes at South Field.
BYU was able to make some position changes going into the game and dominated the first 11 minutes in terms of possession. As the game continued, the defense was strong on both sides of the ball, not letting a single shot see the back of the net in the first half.
The Cougars held the lead for shots on goal with four and 12 shots in the first 45 minutes, with their rivals trailing behind at two shots on goal and four shots.
As the second half kicked off, the battle continued as neither team’s defense was lightening up. BYU was taking every opportunity — with Brecken Mozingo having three shots on goal within minutes of each other — putting the team at seven shots on goal.
The tension grew and Cougar Nation was chanting as the team continued to go neck and neck with the Utes.
“Phenomenal support here Cougar nation,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We had the ROC section rolling as great as I’ve ever seen it, I mean at least in the last several years.”
With the crowd rising, the scoreless streak was broken with only 13 minutes left on the clock as Jamie Shepherd and Mozingo assisted in Oliva Wade’s right-footed goal, putting the first point on the board and placing BYU ahead 1-0.
The Cougars were up 20 shots on the Utes as every bit of offensive pressure had been by BYU in the second half.
Breaking this pattern, Utah tied the game 1-1 with less than two minutes left as Ryann Cull took a shot into the bottom right of the goal.
The Cougars were quick to follow that up less than a minute later with just 64 seconds left on the clock, taking down their rivals on Wade’s third goal of the season, jumping BYU back ahead at 2-1 and leaving BYU victorious at home.
“It’s a huge win for our team,' Wade said. 'Obviously we’ve been having kind of a little bit of a rocky start this season, we knew we had it in us, we just needed to put it out on the field.'
BYU will face Saint Mary’s Oct. 1 to kick off WCC play.