PROVO -- In the last regular season game as Mountain West Conference rivals, the No. 11 BYU Cougars (11-1-1, 2-0-0) took down the Air Force Falcons (7-6-1, 0-2-0) by a final score of 2-1 on South Field.
"Conference games are always really important to us," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We're always going to try our hardest to come out and win. We came out great in the first half this game but Air Force did a great job of keeping the ball from us. We still need to look at getting more shots off and we'll continue to work on our two-touch play as we move forward in the season."
Junior midfielder Lauren Anderson led the offense with three shots for BYU, netting one. The Cougars also had three players with two shots each, including Kassidy Shumway, Jessica Ringwood and Auna Doria.
Anderson got it rolling early for the Cougars, netting her third goal of the season in the 14th minute to put the score at 1-0. Assisting on the goal was sophomore Carlee Payne and junior Jennie Marshall.
Defense ruled the remainder of the first half, with neither team recording a goal but the Cougars pushing the ball and keeping it on their offense for the majority of play. BYU goalkeeper McKinzie Olson had two saves in the half and Air Force goalie Kelly Stambaugh nabbed one.
BYU came out fast to start the second half, with Payne taking control of the ball and sending a perfect pass to Shumway for a goal in the 46th minute, putting the Cougars up 2-0.
Air Force got some offense going in the 85th minute, as they fired off several shots at the Cougar goal before junior Krystin Shanklin slipped one past Olson to bring the score to 2-1.
After surrendering the late goal, the Cougar defense didn't allow any other Falcon attacks while they pushed ahead. In the end, BYU picked up its second-straight conference victory this season with the 2-1 final score.
Next up for BYU will be the TCU Horned Frogs. The game is in Fort Worth, Texas on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. MT
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