The BYU women's soccer team fell to Arizona 2-1 Friday night in Tucson.
Coming off of a successful three game home stand, the Cougars had been riding a large wave of positive energy. It was one of those games that the ball seemed to bounce in every direction except for into the net. Whether it was the time of possession, or the total shot count, BYU dominated in all the statical categories except for the most important.
The Cougars started quickly, earning a free kicked early in the first half. Ella Rustand sent a deep free kicked into Arizona's box, however it was saved by Arizona goalkeeper Olivia Ramey.
The Wildcats struck back quickly, earning their first shot on goal in the 5th minute. Arizona tallied the first goal of the game in the 13th minute when Narissa Fults broke away and split BYU's back line and put the ball past goalkeeper Lynette Hernaez.
BYU would earn its best scoring chance of the first half on a corner kick from Lucy Kessler to Allie Fryar. In the 19th minute, the ball would hit the crossbar, being cleared by Arizona defenders for another BYU corner. Arizona's defense held tight again, clearing the ball out of harm's way.
Coach Jennifer Rockwood tried to find some offensive momentum by subbing in Erin Bailey. Bailey answered quickly by putting immediate pressure on Arizona's back line. BYU's pressure would pick up near the end of the first half, forcing a steal that Allie Fryar would nearly house for BYU. Bailey again put pressure on Arizona late in the first half when her first shot went off of the right goalpost.
Going into the half, BYU trailed 1-0. BYU held a 6-3 shot advantage at the half and a 6-0 corner kick advantage.
Coming out of the half, it was Arizona who came out hot. The Wildcats put big pressure on the BYU defensive line early in the second half, eventually netting their second goal of the game in the 46th minute. The next 20 minutes would see Arizona put continued pressure on BYU.
With about 20 minutes left in the game, the switch finally turned on for BYU. The Cougars eventually became the aggressor, once again putting pressure on Arizona's defensive backline.
BYU's vets would lead the surge with Allie Fryar and Erin Bailey teaming up to finally put the Cougars on the board in the 72nd minute. Fryar launched a shot directly at Ramey, who was unable to corral the rebound and Bailey put home the loose ball.
BYU remained on the attack for the rest of game, but was unable to get the equalizing goal. BYU finished with a massive 13-5 advantage in shots, nine of which were on goal. BYU also registered a 7-2 corner kick advantage over Arizona.
BYU falls to 5-5-3 on the season and 3-2-1 in Big 12 play. The Cougars return to action on Oct. 10 at Kansas and Oct. 14 at Kansas State.