No. 19 BYU women’s soccer defeats Gonzaga 2-1

No. 19 BYU Women’s soccer secured the 2-1 win over Gonzaga Saturday night at South Field in Provo.

The two teams came into the match with winning streaks to up the already high stakes. BYU had not lost the past seven games and Gonzaga with a streak of nine. 

As the game kicked off, the weather was in a downpour as the temperature was shivering and the rain just kept coming. But despite all of his Cougar nation pulled up and so did the girls as they gave it their all in a relentless battle against the Bulldogs.

With constant back and forth, BYU was barely staying ahead against Gonzaga as they entered into a scoreless 39th minute. The Cougars were dominating with ten shots compared to the Bulldogs who were trailing far behind with a single shot to show thus far.

As the second half kicked off, BYU’s Bella Folino didn’t waste any time getting the first point of the game as Brecken Mozingo assisted with a perfect cross, changing the scoreboard to 1-0 BYU.

Just a minute later, the storyline changed. Gonzaga was quick to equalize the game as Katie Doyle put it into the bottom right back of the net, 1-1 just five minutes into the second half.

“It’s definitely tough getting scored on right after you score.. This team is resilient and we showed that tonight,” said BYU midfielder Bella Folino.

The Cougars were relentless with entering the 60th minute they had tripled the Bulldogs shot count as BYU had 15 compared to Gonzaga’s five.

As BYU kept the shots coming, the point was bound to follow. Daviana Vaka had a perfect cross to unstoppable Allie Fryer for her third goal of the week, putting BYU on top 2-1 with 24 minutes left on the clock. 

Both teams continued to battle but the score remained BYU 2-1, solidifying the Cougars win streak as well as their streak of never losing to the Bulldogs.

“Tonight was a tough one,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “It’s been a great ride in the WCC and we are going to try to finish it off strong.”

BYU will face Santa Clara next Saturday for its last ever home game in the WCC.