PROVO, Utah – No. 6 BYU knocked off CSUN 5-0 with 36 shots and a strong second half Saturday night at South Field.
“We wanted to show that we can score because that’s who we are,” said freshman midfielder Sierra Pennock. “We showed perseverance after our goal in the first half and we wanted to get a lot more in the second half.”
The Cougars wrapped up a week of three home games on a positive note, holding the Matadors to just one shot for the entire 90 minutes of tonight's match.
BYU began the game with an aggressive attack. A quick drive to led to the Cougars’ first shot of the game by forward Ellie Maughan on the bottom left of the goal before being curbed by a CSUN defender in the fourth minute.
A pair of fouls committed by the Matadors and one on the Cougars within a minute-span came moments before forward Bella Folino would rack up two shots in the 15th and 17th minutes, respectively.
The Cougars’ offense continued to apply pressure with a corner kick by forward Brecken Mozingo sailing to the center of the penalty area before being stunted in a mass of Matador defenders.
Despite the score remaining knotted at zero by the end of the 23rd minute, BYU had tallied seven shots compared to CSUN’s zero. The Cougars forceful approach paid off with the first goal of the night coming from Mozingo’s shot into the left side of the net off an assist from forward Allie Fryer in the 43rd minute.
Entering the second half, BYU had scored six second-half goals on the season compared to just two in any first half. Aiming to continue their second period success, the Cougars drove to the right side of the field nearing the goal before a BYU handball awarded the Matadors a free kick to curb the momentum.
In the 58th minute, forward Rachel McCarthy fired a low dart to the center of the penalty box that ricocheted to Folino who put it away for the second goal of the night.
Freshman midfielder Sierra Pennock would notch her first career goal and BYU’s third score of the night after taking a wide midfield pass from midfielder Olivia Smith in the 67th minute. She beat a Matador defender on the right side of the field to place a ball that made its way just above the reach of the CSUN goalkeeper.
The ensuing five minutes would see three more BYU shots, coming from Jamie Shepherd, Kendell Petersen and Mozingo.
Freshmen midfielder Emma Neff and forward Avery Frischknecht saw minutes as Cougars for the first time with substitutions in the 73rd minute.
After a pass by Mozingo into the penalty box, Fryer would place a header that lobbed high into the far left corner of the goal in the 82nd minute to mark her first career goal to push the BYU lead to 4-0. Less than a minute later, the Cougars continued to stretch its lead, going up 5-0 after Mozingo was awarded a penalty kick in the box. Mozingo's goal marked her second of the match and third this season.
The Matadors would tally their first shot of the night in the 84th minute to no avail. The Cougars had racked up 32 at that point in the match, five of which found the back of the net for the 5-0 home win.
BYU next takes the field Thursday, Sept. 8 as the Cougars return to South Field for their fourth-straight home game to face SEC opponent Arkansas at 8 p.m. MDT. The game will be carried live on the BYU Sports Network — BYURadio.org/BYU Radio app/BYU Radio 107.9 FM.