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PROVO, Utah – Two goals from Elena Medeiros and one from Brittain Dearden led No. 13 BYU women’s soccer to a 3-0 victory over Pepperdine.
Medeiros’ first goal came in the 32nd minute. Michele Murphy Vasconcelos played a cross into forward Madie Lyons, who took a low shot. It was deflected by a Pepperdine defender, Medeiros came down with the deflection and struck the ball to the lower left corner, where it found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Her next goal came in the 78th minute, on an assist from Bizzy Phillips that put Medeiros behind the defense to beat the keeper for the second time. The goals for Medeiros are the sixth and seventh of the season.
The other goal for the Cougars was provided by Dearden in the 47th minute. Lyons took the ball down the right sideline and her cross was deflected by a Pepperdine defender toward goal. Dearden was first to the ball and tapped it into the back of the net. It is Dearden’s first career goal.
“I’m really pleased with our performance for the full 90 minutes,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “I thought we played really well. This week, we really made a concerted effort to get our attacking players more confident going at defending players and they got rewarded by scoring three goals for the first time of the year.”
BYU had 30 shots to Pepperdine’s eight. Seven of these came from Lyons, with one shot on frame. Five more came from Vasconcelos with one on frame as well. Medeiros finished with six shots and four on goal.
It was a quiet first half for Rachel Boaz, with only one shot on goal from Pepperdine. Her save came in the 40th minute on a chance off a cross from Pepperdine.The second half brought four more shots on goal, but Boaz would save all four to record her 11th combined shutout of the season. It was the ninth consecutive home shutout tying the program record set in 1999.
The win continues BYU's home win streak with 15 straight wins. It is also their 15th straight home game conference win. The Cougars are now 13-2-2, 5-1-1.
BYU takes on Loyola Marymount Saturday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. MT at home. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv as well as the Cougar IMG Sports Network and ESPN 960 AM.