PROVO -- The Cougars finished off their spring season by blanking both the University of Utah and Idaho State in 3-0 victories at South Field in the annual spring outdoor tournament.
“We knew this was our last opportunity to play together as a team so we really wanted to make the most of it,” said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “We put everything together that we’d been working on this spring. We had great results and I was very pleased with everyone’s performance and effort. It’s a great confidence booster as we move into preparing for next fall and it gives us a lot to look forward to.”
In the first game of the day, the Cougars took on in-state rival Utah and finished with a 3-0 shutout victory.
Carlee Payne took the first shot on goal for BYU in the first few minutes of play and would continue through the game as a dominant part of BYU’s offense. The Cougars controlled the tempo of the game throughout the first and second half. More shots on goal came from Jennie Marshall, Lauren Anderson, Kristi Dow-Jackson and many others.
BYU’s first goal came from Jessica Ringwood after a pass from Marshall to Kassidy Shumway was deflected past the goalie with Ringwood in position to tap it in. The second goal came just a few minutes later from Shumway off a pass from Payne.
Utah took its first shot on goal after 10 minutes of play with their second shot coming soon after, a free kick that went high over the goal.
BYU’s third goal to seal the win came off a pass from Ringwood in the midfield up to Payne, who took the ball past the defensive line to go one-on-one with the Utah goalie. Payne maneuvered around the goalie and found the back of the net for the 3-0 victory.
“I just saw the open field and thought, ‘shoot, dribble, shoot’ and got it in,” Payne said.
In their second game of the day against Idaho State, the Cougars’ dominating offense pulled off another 3-0 shutout victory. BYU kept the Bengals to just six shots while shooting more than 25 themselves. In the 20 minutes of play, the Cougars had already taken 10 shots with three good looks off a header from Ringwood, a bullet shot from Ashley Bazzarone and a wide-shot from Auna Janis.
BYU’s first goal came off a penalty kick from Lauren Anderson, who took the kick, and found the back of the net with a clean shot to the top right corner.
Goals two and three happened just one minute apart, both coming from Payne, to bring home the victory. A corner kick from Anderson to Payne tallied the 2-0 advantage with a pass from Bartholomew to Payne sealing the victory.
Goalies McKinzie Olson and Erica Owens split both games against Utah and Idaho State with both making some big saves to ensure Cougar victory.
“I think today went really well,” Olson said. “We made big improvements on things we’ve been working on together and it’s a great way to finish off the spring season.”
Goals scored
Game 1 vs Utah
Jessica Ringwood, assisted by Kassidy Shumway
Kassidy Shumway, assisted by Carlee Payne
Carlee Payne, assisted by Jessica Ringwood
Game 2 vs Idaho State
Lauren Anderson, penalty kick
Carlee Payne, assisted by Lauren Anderson
Carlee Payne, assisted by Stacy Bartholomew