The 6th ranked BYU women's soccer team traveled to Eugene tonight for a win against the Oregon Ducks and came out with a hard fought draw at 0-0. The Ducks started off the year at 2-4-0 due to a lack of defense and now sit at 2-4-1. BYU headed into the game with a perfect 4-0-0 record after coming off a shutout win over their rival Utah. The Cougars are now 4-0-1. The draw ends their perfect record but they have still not lost a game. BYU played without their starter Jaiden Thornock after she received two yellow cards in the Utah game.
First Half
The fouls in this game started early and often. At a mere minute and 48 seconds into the first half, Oregon committed their first foul which gave Cloee Colohan a shot that was saved by the Oregon goalkeeper Abby Steele. After a couple of shots that didn't even come close for Oregon, they committed two more quick fouls. Nikki Fernandes missed a corner kick seconds before Rachel Manning hit a header high. Another aggressive foul was called on the ducks before Bri Pugh took a wide shot at the 12:24 mark. BYU became aggressive with two fouls before a shot by Brooke Strawn was blocked by the cougars. Two more fouls on each team and only one legitimate shot on goal, saved by Steele, finished out the first half.
Second Half
The second half started off with a corner kick by Colett Jepson Smith that was unsuccessful at the 46:40 mark. Thirty seconds later Kyleigh Royall shot wide for the Cougars. Three more fouls in the next ten minutes mixed in with one corner kick for Oregon and a shot on goal that was again saved by the ducks keeper. After various high or wide shots for both teams, Oregon received their first shot on goal at the 75:56 mark but it was saved by the Cougars goalkeeper Erica Owens.
In the 81st minute Colohan received a yellow card, but Oregon could not take advantage as their shot was once again blocked before it made it to Owens. Jepson Smith returned the favor on the other end by shooting wide.
Owens got back into the action when saving another shot on goal at the 82:14 mark. The Ducks became much more aggressive on offense as the game started to wind down. You could tell the team wanted to reward themselves for maintaining rigorous defensive presence against the Cougars.
Hatcher tried to finish off the Ducks with a shot at 87:09 but it went wide, and again she shot at 88:20. This time Steele saved it. Regulation ended sending the game into overtime tied at 0 - 0. BYU dominated the regulation stats holding an edge of 8-2 in Shots on Goal and 15-12 in shots. Owens had 2 saves compared to Steele's eight saves.
Overtimes
In the first five minutes of the overtime the Ducks took three shots on goal to the Cougars zero. They continued to press as they took three more shots in the next four minutes. The Cougars had to save two of them, one went wide and the other went high. After the ten minute overtime the game stayed scoreless leading to overtime number two.
Two minutes into the second overtime, Annie Amos received the second yellow card for BYU. Seven minutes into the second overtime, the Ducks had taken seven shots to the Cougar's one. Three of these shots were shots on goal. The second period ended with no further shots and ending the game in the tie. Owens ended the game with four saves on the night. 0 - 0.
The cougars will take the tie though. It may not be a win, but it certainly isn't hurting as much as a loss. They'll have another chance to win this Saturday, September 14th.
Next Broadcast
The Cougars next play at home on South Field against UC Irvine at 7pm MDT on the 14th. Watch the game on BYUtv or drop by the South Field for a fun time at South Field.