PROVO, Utah – The
University of Idaho women's soccer team held strong defensively in the first
half, but breakdowns after the half compounded in a 5-0 loss at Brigham Young
on Tuesday.
Idaho's defense held the Cougars scoreless for the first 43
minutes of the match, but gave up a late goal in the 44th minute just before
the break. BYU struck just seven minutes into the second period and opened up a
four-goal scoring flurry over the first 20 minutes of the half.
“It took the wind out of our sails,” Idaho head coach Pete
Showler said of the late first-half goal. “We'd been under a lot of pressure,
but we dealt with it and dealt with it well.
“The things we'd been doing well in the first, we stopped
doing in the second, and we can't allow that to happen. You can't let that
happen against a team of that quality.”
The loss puts Idaho at 3-5-2 this year, while BYU climbs to
5-3-2.The Cougars outshot Idaho, 25-5 overall and 12-3 on goal. BYU also earned
seven corners to the Vandals' one. Idaho was whistled for five fouls, while BYU
committed four.
Junior goalkeeper Caroline Towles made two first-half saves
and Idaho was credited with two more team saves in the first half. The teams
appeared poised to enter a scoreless break, but BYU freshman Jaiden Thornock
slipped in behind the defense, found a window and put a shot into the far
corner at 43:33 to send the Cougars in with a 1-0 halftime lead.
The aggressive BYU offense scored early in the second half
and kept its momentum going, with scores at 52:14, 58:15, 66:08 and finally at
75:44.
There's little time to rest for the Vandals, because they'll
be back on the road Friday when they face Gonzaga at 4 p.m. (PDT) at Spokane,
Wash. The Bulldogs are 4-4-0 overall and are coming off a 3-1 loss to
Washington and a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Washington State last weekend.
“That's what's going to be a measure of where this team is,”
Showler said of Friday's match. “We've got to put that performance behind us,
then step on the pitch Friday and prove we're better than that result.”
