PROVO -- In front of a season-high 2,564 fans at South Field on Friday night, the No. 12 BYU Cougars (5-0) took on the No. 21 Washington State Cougars to seize the 3-1 victory in BYU’s second win over a top-25 team.
"This was a great win for us tonight against a very talented team," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "The girls hustled really well tonight and we got a lot of good opportunities on goal."
Cami Jensen took the first shot on goal in the 23rd minute, deflected by WSU goalie Ariana Byrd.
Both teams left the field at halftime scoreless after battling for 45 minutes. BYU headed into the locker room with seven attempts on goal, while WSU had two.
Jennie Marshall was the first to put the ball in the net for BYU, in the 53rd minute of action with an assist from Lauren Anderson.
In the 16th minute, the Cougars had a close call when WSU sent the ball close to BYU’s goal on a corner kick. BYU goalkeeper McKinzie Olson was quick to deflect the attempt for her first save, of three, in the victory.
Washington State fought back and found a goal opportunity with forward Brandi Vega breaking away, going one-on-one with Olson towards the goal. Vega scored the equalizer with 15 minutes to play in the game.
It only took the Cougars in blue, however, 90 seconds to answer Vega’s goal, with Jessica Ringwood stealing back the lead with a free-kick right over the head of Washington State's goalie. The goal was Ringwood’s second of the season.
With BYU back on offense, a third goal was in sight just 10 minutes after their second. A pass to the center gave Marshall an open shot on goal. Marshall grabbed the opportunity and sent the ball sailing over Byrd’s head for BYU’s third goal of the night with less than five minutes left to play.
Marshall recorded two goals in tonight's victory to bring her season total to six, a team-high.
WSU tried to rally an attack on BYU’s goal, but the Cougars thwarted every attempt to defend their lead until the last minute.
BYU ended the game with 12 attempts on goal, and WSU had nine.
The Cougars' next match-up will be at home against LSU on Thursday, September 9, at 7 p.m. The game will air live on BYUtv and can also be seen at byutv.org.