BYU women's soccer knocks off Gonzaga and (6) Portland.

The BYU women's soccer team, ranked 24th in the nation, took on two WCC opponents on the road this week and came away with two more wins and two more shutouts.  The Cougars now sit at 11-4-1 while Gonzaga drops to 5-8-1 (1-3 WCC) and Portland 12-2-1.  The Cougars visited Gonzaga on Thursday and then #6 Portland on Saturday for the WCC game of the week.

Gonzaga

With another defensive battle in store for the Cougars, BYU scored the only goal of the game in the 10th minute when Niki Fernandes hit a cross to Marissa Nimmer that was then put into the net.  The goal from ten yards out was the second goal on the year for Nimmer.  BYU dominated the offensive stats with 19 total shots but only seven of them going for shots on goal.  Gonzaga had only seven total shots with four being on goal.  Erica Owens ended up with her fourth shutout in the last five games and the team won for the fifth time in the last six games.

Portland

The Cougars faced #6 Portland in the game of the week for the WCC.  As has been the norm for the last few weeks, defense was the key.  The only goal was scored in the 78th minute when Ashley Hatch scored on a shot from the box, and an assist from Paige Hunt.  The goal was the fourth on the year for Hatch and sealed the victory for the Cougars.  Portland led in shots by a ten to nine margin but BYU led in shots on goal three to two.  The game was very physical as a total of 19 fouls were called between the teams and each team had a yellow card.  Erica Owens now has five shutouts in their last six wins.

Next Game

BYU comes home to play at South Field on Friday, November 1st against San Diego.  This is their only game of the week and will be televised on BYUtv at 7pm MDT.