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PROVO — The BYU women’s soccer team put up 30 shots in last Friday’s 2-1 loss to San Diego in a West Coast Conference opener Friday, Sept. 29.
So what was head coach Jennifer Rockwood’s message all week as they prepared for Saint Mary’s? That’s soccer; stay the course, and the goals will come.
Consider the message received.
Madie Lyons Mathews notched a brace, and the Cougars poured in three first-half goals en route to a 4-1 win over the Gaels to earn their first WCC game of the season Friday night at South Field.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time in front of goal … and it really paid off,” Rockwood said. “Our last game didn’t pay off for us, but we stayed true to it, had a great week of practice, and the girls came through.
“Last week was one of our better games of the season, and it didn’t fall our way. That’s our sport sometimes.”
Bizzy Bowen opened the scoring for the Cougars (4-5-3, 1-1 WCC) just 14 minutes in. The senior spotted a spilt shot by Mathews in the 14th minute, pounced on the loose ball inside the box, and put away the goal that gave the home side a 1-0 lead.
Just over 10 minutes later, a flurry of goals gave BYU a 3-0 halftime lead.
“We’ve been trying to come out harder. We’ve gotten close on a few, but we have more trouble winning when we come out flat,” Bowen said. “We wanted to be more patient, come out fast, and the goals came. That was nice.”
#BYU beats SMC 4-1. @Spencer_Linton and Natalyn Lewis recap @byusoccer_w first West Coast Conference win of the season.#BYUtvSportspic.twitter.com/3wMtShOyTA
— BYUtv Sports (@byutvsports) October 8, 2017
Mathews scored in the 26th minute, finishing off a counterattack by Nadia Gomes inside the far post to double the Cougars’ advantage. Barely a minute later, Avery Walker raced down the left sideline, juked a defender on a dive into the area, and slipped one inside the far post for a 3-0 advantage.
Mathews finished the scoring six minutes after the break, ripping a shot from 30 yards out into the top shelf for a 4-0 lead as the Cougars cruised to their first WCC victory in 2017.
“I feel like the first goal Bizzy followed up on got us our confidence,” Mathews said. “It let us relax the rest of the game.
“Goals are coming, and that’s really rewarding.”
Jaylen Crim pulled one back for Saint Mary’s, which moved to 6-8 on the year.
But the Cougars put the game away, securing the four goals on 14 shots — fewer than half the erratic offensive shot selection they had against San Diego.
“The last game against San Diego, we played awesome — it just didn’t go our way,” Mathews said. “That’s just how soccer goes sometimes. It was really rewarding to have things go our way tonight.
“We just had confidence to shoot from anywhere, and that’s what we need.”
