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PROVO — Two games into the 2023 season and the BYU women's soccer team has been anything but offensively challenged with seven goals from five different goal scorers en route to wins over then-No. 21 Saint Louis and Cal State Fullerton.
Thursday night, it was the defense's time to shine.
Olivia Wade Katoa and Bella Folino scored on either side of halftime to lead No. 11 BYU women's soccer by visiting Long Beach State 2-0 at South Field for the team's first shutout of the regular season.
Savanna Mason made five saves in goal for the Cougars, who improved to 3-0 on the season while earning the 5-foot-10 junior her first shutout of the campaign.
"She's great. I have all the trust in Savanna," Folino said. "They can take her on, and I know Sav is going to do great. ... This is how we get a high bid to the NCAA Tournament. Every game, we're aiming for that shutout and it was great that we got it tonight."
The former American Fork multisport athlete got plenty of help from her back line, including center backs Izzi Stratton and Laveni Vaka.
"We're playing a tough schedule top to bottom, and Sav came up with some nice saves. But Izzi and Lava and our back line are asked to do a lot," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "They have to defend, and they have to start our attack. We wish they weren't touching the ball as much as they are, but they were doing a very good job because Long Beach is very dangerous on the counter attack, and we withstood it."
It took more than 20 minutes for BYU to register a shot on target — a rarity for the offensively minded Cougars — before Ellie Walbruch nearly broke the lid off the top. But the UCLA transfer's 25th-minute follow-up stroke after Zora Standifer spilled a saved shot by Kendell Petersen from distance was waived offside.
Instead, Katoa ripped an arcing ball that caromed off the underside of the crossbar to open the scoring in the 30th minute for a BYU side outshot 7-3 by Long Beach (1-1-1) in the first half.
But the Cougars needed just one look — one of three shots on target — to take the lead on Katoa's third straight match with a goal. Olivia Smith helped double the advantage in the 48th minute, dribbling to the end line before finding Folino for the senior's 30th career goal.
"We've played together for four or five years now, so I know that she's going to hit that ball there and I'm going to be in the right spot," said Folino, who scored on her first attempt on target. "It worked out tonight."
The Cougars saw out the win the rest of the way, narrowly outshooting Long Beach 14-13 with seven shots on target. They also saw out the match, when Long Beach midfielder Cherrie Cox's head smacked the turf following a scary collision with Petersen midway through the second half that saw Cox taken to a local hospital via ambulance.
Our thoughts and prayers are with LBSU midfielder Cherrie Cox pic.twitter.com/ts8yxMueLv
— BYU Women's Soccer (@byusoccer_w) August 25, 2023
The two teams came together in prayer before the restart, with Long Beach offering a player to voice the prayer, Folino said.
"We have outstanding young women in our program … and it's always scary when something like that happens," Rockwood said. "So they just went over there, reached out to them to see if they wanted to pray and join us, and that's what it's all about.
"We love the game. We love to compete. But in times like that, it's more important that we take care of each other, to pray for her and hope that she's OK."
BYU hits the road Saturday to face Boise State at 7 p.m. MDT on the Mountain West Network. The Cougars return home Aug. 31 to host No. 1 UCLA at 8 p.m. MDT on ESPN+.
