Mozingo's penalty saves another home draw for No. 6 BYU women's soccer

PROVO — No. 6 BYU women's soccer is still unbeaten in Big 12 play.

But some draws feel like a loss, and that would certainly describe the frustration evident on the Cougars' faces Thursday night at South Field.

Brecken Mozingo's penalty kick rallied the Cougars to a 1-1 tie with Cincinnati, gifting the visiting Bearcats a point on the road in the standings for both conference newcomers.

Ellie Flower had the lone goal for Cincinnati (2-5-4, 1-1-2 Big 12), which scored in the second minute and only had three shots on goal the rest of the match.

Goalkeeper Anna Rexford made six saves for the Bearcats.

For the fourth time in five matches, BYU gave up the first goal of the match. This time, it was Cincinnati native Flower who put away a deflected save off a set piece to give the Bearcats the 1-0 advantage just 90 seconds into the match.

"We have to get off to a better start," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "This has happened to us a few times now, and we can't give up a goal against anybody in the first couple minutes of the game. We have to do better. We're really disappointed in our performance overall. I think we worked hard. We had the ball almost the entire game but couldn't find a way to put in the back of the net."

BYU goalkeeper Lynette Hernaez made the initial save on a header, but the loose ball fell to Flower and the redshirt senior put it back behind the line with one take to give Cincinnati a lead that would stand up through halftime.

The Cougars (9-1-2, 2-0-2 Big 12) out-shot the visitors 12-3 in the first half, but landed just four shots on target — and all four were saved by Rexford. Only Ellie Walbruch (3) and Mozingo (2) had multiple shots before the break.

But Mozingo wasted no time equalizing in the second half, converting a penalty kick in the 47th minute for her sixth goal of the season after Flower was called for a foul against Kendell Petersen in the box.

It's the second home draw in conference play for the Cougars, who also drew TCU 3-3 in both teams' Big 12 opener. That tie preceded a 1-0 loss at Utah State, where similar to Thursday night's match BYU ran into a physical front of 24 fouls and two disciplinary cards.

"We have to play at a faster pace," Rockwood said. "We have to have more of a sense of urgency, play more disciplined in our one and two-touch play. We have to have our attacking players put their heads down and make something happen. We shouldn't be relying on our outside backs to create our offense."

After rebounding with a 4-0 win at Baylor and a come-from-behind 3-2 victory at then-No. 14 Texas on Erin Bailey's team-high seven goal of the season, BYU was affected by many of the same physical struggles Thursday night.

The Bearcats, who lead the Big 12 in fewest allowed shots by an opponent and allowed shots on goal, forced 12 fouls while BYU out-shot the visitors 26-6, conceding nine corner kicks and taking just one.

"It's hard to play against a team that packs it in," Rockwood said. "When you have 10 players in the defensive third, we obviously prefer to play a team that plays. It works, it's effective, and it's hard for us to create when you're trying to beat 10 people within 30 yards of the goal."

BYU falls to fifth place in the Big 12 with the draw before hitting the road again Monday at Iowa State (4-7-1). The Cougars are back on South Field next Thursday, Oct. 5 when they host league leading Texas Tech (10-0-2, 4-0).

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