DENVER, Colo. - Four different Cougars scored goals on the road, including three unanswered to give BYU a 4-1 victory over Denver on Thursday night at CIBER Field.
Ashley Hatch finished the night with a goal and two assists to go along with four shots. Her deflected cross led to Elena Medeiros' goal in the fourth minute. Another pass led to Michele Murphy's goal that put BYU up 3-1 in the 53rd and Hatch scored her own in the 59th as she beat the keeper to a ball at the top of the box, sidestepped the sliding goalie and poked it into the open net for the final margin of 4-1.
After Denver's goal to tie it 1-1 in the 12th minute, the bench came up big for the Cougars.
"We just needed some new blood out on the field to battle," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said on the Cougar IMG Sports Network. "Madie going in and scoring that goal certainly changed the momentum for us."
Madie Lyons scored her second game-winning goal in as many weeks. This time she found an angle off the crossbar that confused the keeper just enough to make it 2-1 in the 40th minute. Medeiros scored the opener in the 4th minute. It was Medeiros' second goal of the season and second on the road.
Murphy showed some individual skill in scoring the third BYU goal of the night. Murphy chipped over one defender then another, before chipping the keeper for a 3-1 lead in the 53rd minute.
Murphy finished the night with three shots. Lyons, Jaiden Thornock and Marissa Nimmer each took two shots on the night as BYU outshot Denver 15-6.
"They're building their confidence," Rockwood said. "We knew from the beginning we had a lot of talent. We're just building the chemistry and confidence."
BYU faces SMU on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be heard on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.