The Utah Valley University women’s soccer team (14-5-3) was shut out 3-0 by the sixth-seeded Brigham Young University Cougars (11-2-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday evening at South Field in Provo, Utah.
The Wolverines had no answers for the Cougars’ attack as BYU scored one goal late in the first frame and then piled on two more scores in the second half.
The Cougars’ defense held the highly-potent Wolveirnes’s offense to 11 shots, five of which were on goal, and three corner kicks. BYU goalkeeper Savanna Mason saved all five of the Wolverines’ close attempts. On top of three goals given up, UVU surrendered 21 shots, including 10 shots on goal, and five corners to the Cougars despite a seven-save performance by goalie Leah Wolf.
Five different Wolverines had a shot on goal while Heather Stainbrook led the team in shots with four followed by Hannah Lee with three shots and Faith Webber with two.
The beginning of the match went uneventful for the beginning minutes until Ellie Maughan took the first shot of the game for BYU in the fifth minute.
Lee had a good look for UVU in the ninth minute, firing toward the right of the post, but Mason made the save for the Cougars. Lee tried to follow up with a shot in the 11th minute but her attempt was high to the right.
Webber took her first shot of the game in the 24th minute, trying to locate the bottom right corner, but Mason once again made the save.
Both teams continued to exchange shots, with BYU almost scoring twice, before Allie Fryer scored the Cougars’ first goal of the game in the 38th minute, going up 1-0. BYU then went on to outshoot the Wolverines 2-1 to end the half.
Olivia Wade gave the Cougars a quick start to the second half after almost scoring in the 47th minute with a line drive to the bottom right corner. Nicole Ray tried to respond for the Wolverines with a bullet up the middle less than a minute later but Mason prevented the potential goal.
Stainbrook had a similar look in the 60th minute and almost scored but Mason thwarted her attempt as well.
After having two close looks saved by Wolf, the Cougars finally broke through their second goal of the game by Tara Warner, assisted by Jamie Shepherd, in the 69th minute. After no response from UVU, Rachel McCarthy scored another goal for BYU less than 10 minutes later to give the Cougars a 3-0 edge.
After some missed shots by the Cougars, Stainbrook tried to get the Wolverines on the board in the 87th minute but was just off the mark. Julianna Carter was the last hope for the Wolverines as she tried to drill the ball towards the top of the post in the 88th minute but Mason made the game-sealing save for BYU to complete the shutout 3-0 and end the Wolverines’ season.
