OGDEN – After BYU’s win Friday night against Montana State, it had the momentum for its rivalry match on Saturday morning.
With high energy, Porter Iverson passed the ball into Ryan Tetro who kicked the ball, curving it around the Utah goalie. Its slow roll in made it 1-0 in the first three minutes of the game.
And the Cougars kept on rolling from there in an 8-0 victory.
Just minutes after, Kyle Walbruch passed the ball into Brayden Gonder who put it in the back of the net, making it 2-0 in under 10 minutes.
Utah attempted to return the attack on BYU after a foul was called but they only got the ball to Aaron Jolley’s arm.
The ball stayed on the offensive side for BYU, giving each player their chance to show what they’ve got. After weaving around Utah’s defense, Carter Olsen kicked the ball past its defense over to Jolley who’s shot on goal skimmed the top bar.
A foreshadowing call was made by the referee at the end of the first half when BYU had a corner shot but the whistle was blown before the shot could be taken.
Not only were the Cougars leading 3-0 in the second half, the wind finally eased up, making it just a bit more bearable.
Alex Fankhouser was quick with the ball, making a strong pass into Owen Rich who went around three defenders and scored his goal from the left side of the goal box.
Verbal sighs were heard from Utah’s players after they couldn’t maintain possession for long against BYU. The Utes turned this around and held off BYU long enough to have a shot on goal but this fell short after the shot went wide to the left.
After a pass was made to Walbruch, he went around the Utes' last defensive player, leaving the goal open to just him and the goalie. His strike brought the Cougars up 5-0.
The cheers died down after fans and players noticed Walbruch was behind the goal, under the ball stop netting. Shouts were made to hold the game play to see if he was all right.
The middle referee ignored the shouts and said to continue the game. Walbruch was able to make it back to the field just for the referee to blow the whistle. Confusion came over everyone, wondering what the whistle blow was for. Words were exchanged between the referee and Walbruch who was trying to recover from the event.
“I am not asking for a foul, I’m asking you check if he is okay,” said coach Brandon Gilliam.
Gilliam's request to substitute fell on deaf ears. After the game play started, fans heard the referee yell, “No.”
“As a referee, safety is your primary thing so just go check on him and make sure he’s okay, and then we can play on,” said Gilliam.
BYU was finally able to substitute Walbruch out after its sixth goal on Utah, made by Collin Jones. Cheers rang out from the bench after the ball curved perfectly into Taft Erickson who secure his first goal by heading it in to the top part of the goal.
“I feel good. It was good momentum. I feel confident after that,” said Taft Erikson.
Erickson used that momentum to assist in Jolley’s goal. over to Jolley who headed it right behind the unsuspecting goalie, leaving it 7-0.
BYU finished strong after a long pass was made down the middle to Olsen. The smack of the ball hitting into the goalies’ gloves was overpowered by the claps from the stands as it went right through Utah’s fingers.
The Cougars will finish their Regionals run on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Oregon State in Ogden.