The BYU women's soccer team remains unbeaten at home and in Big 12 play after shutting out the TCU Horned Frogs 2-0 on Monday night.
This marks the first time since 2010 that the Cougars have defeated the Horned Frogs.
The two goals came from junior Emma Hamberlin and sophomore Sophie Silvulich. The goal marked Hamberlin’s fourth of the season and Silvulich’s second. Freshman Anna Neff recorded an assist, her first as a Cougar.
There was impressive energy from the Cougars’ back line. They held TCU to only two shots on goal and five shots overall.
BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood commented on the energy that held the back line together.
“We came out with a lot of defensive energy, and we were able to spread a lot of balls and make TCU uncomfortable,” Rockwood said.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle between the two Big 12 powerhouses, although BYU controlled most of the possession.
The Cougars outshot the Horned Frogs 6-1 in the first half, but the two teams had an equal number of shots on goal, one apiece.
In the opening minutes, there was action in both boxes, with BYU earning a corner kick from Silvulich. The ball was off the mark for the Cougars, and seconds later, TCU’s Kamdyn Fuller pulled away from the BYU defense for a drive down the middle of the field.
Fuller took advantage of the breakaway and fired a shot toward the bottom left corner of the net. BYU goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson came up with one of her three saves on the counterattack.
Although BYU’s defense brought a lot of energy, a cross near midfield was deflected by TCU’s Grace Vest. She found space and placed the ball in front of forward Emma Yollinsky, who appeared to score TCU’s first goal.
BYU challenged the score and was successful. Yollinsky was ruled far offside, keeping the two teams scoreless heading into halftime.
BYU owned the second half, recording nine shots, three of which were on goal. Its defense held TCU to five shots overall. Much of the action in the first 20 minutes looked similar to the first half, but the momentum shifted as the final 30 minutes began.
In the 65th minute, just one minute after entering the game, Emma Hamberlin scored her fourth goal of the season to put the Cougars ahead of the Horned Frogs.
The sequence featured an assist from Neff, who had also entered the game just five minutes earlier.
“Afton played me a great ball, and Emma made a great run, so it was easy on my part, but it was a great setup and finish by Emma,” Neff said.
TCU kept fighting to equalize, but BYU wasn’t finished either.
In the 81st minute, a TCU goal kick was deflected by Neff off her head. Sophomore Sophie Silvulich maintained possession and ripped a shot from well outside the 18-yard box into the net, just above TCU goalkeeper Olivia Geller, to extend the Cougars’ lead to two.
The common denominator in both goals was freshman Anna Neff’s impact on the ball, putting it in a good position for her teammates.
“I guess it’s just about trying to be in the right place at the right time and matching up,” Neff said.
In the final nine minutes, TCU fired two of its five total shots in an attempt to cut into the deficit, but time ran out before the Horned Frogs could capitalize.
The win pushes the Cougars to 5-2-2 overall on the season as they look to face Kansas State on Friday night at South Field.