Phillips' late goal helps No. 5 BYU soccer blank Utah State

PROVO — BYU women's soccer team put 33 shots on goal, but couldn't put one in past in-state rival Utah State for nearly 87 minutes Thursday night at South Field.

On the 34th attempt, Bizzy Phillips got it done.

Phillips scored off a 45-yard free kick that bounced in front of goal and into the back of the net to give BYU a 1-0 win over the Aggies in front of 4,006 fans at South Field in Provo.

Phillips originally planned to lay the ball off for forward Michele Murphy Vasconcelos, but she looked over to head coach Jennifer Rockwood, who told the sophomore to put the ball on target and aim for striker Ashley Hatch's head.

"That's what I aimed for, and I think (Utah State goalkeeper) Jeannie Woller thought Ash would try to flick it, (but it) went up and it bounced right over her," said Phillips, whose team out-shot the Aggies, 35-8. "It's been such an exciting night and so fun. Utah State is a great game to come out and play."

The goal snapped BYU's 247-minute scoreless streak dating back to the 21st minute of a 2-0 home win over Utah on Sept. 4. The Cougars (5-1) also lost to Stanford, 1-0, on Monday evening.

But through the first 86 minutes of the game, Woller and the Aggie defense seemed to have the BYU attack flummoxed.

"It was a little frustrating to play that well and not be able to finish," Phillips said. "But I think we still believed in ourselves, and we didn't give up. Everyone was fighting for the ball, and when your teammates are fighting for the ball, you just have to grind it out. And it came in our favor tonight."

Hatch, who finished with a game-high 14 shots, nearly tipped in the ball that glanced between her ear and Woller with three minutes left in regulation.

Woller finished with seven saves on 35 shots faced, and three Aggies (3-3-1) each finished with two of Utah State's eight total shots.

"You just have to believe in our team and believe what we can do," Hatch said. "We've done it before, and we just have to keep fighting until the end."

The goal was the latest opening goal for BYU in 2015. The Cougars normally score within the first 20 minutes of each match, save for the shutout loss at No. 2-ranked Stanford on Monday.

"I think that goal in the first 20 minutes gives us momentum, and we seem to score a second goal. Tonight, that didn't happen, but it shows we can do that," Phillips said. "We proved to ourselves that we can grind out games. That's a nice thing to rely on when that happens to us."

Miss the game winner tonight? Check out the replay here! BYU 1 USU 0 #BYUwSOC#GoCougspic.twitter.com/TGEWLQhSdF — BYU Women's Soccer (@byusoccer_w) September 11, 2015

Rachel Boaz made three saves to earn the shutout for BYU, which has five shutouts since the San Diego State transfer earned the starting job during the preseason and allowed just one goal. Boaz made all three saves in the first half, and her team contributed to the defensive stalemate through the final 45 minutes. Even Hatch, who finished just one shot off a BYU record with 14, ran down several balls to her own end line to keep possession in the Cougars' favor.

"We take a lot of pride in our team defense," Rockwood said. "It's something we talk about every day at practice. One thing we found out against Stanford on Monday is that we can play some solid team defense. You have to do that to go far in your conference and to make it to the tournament."

BYU opened the game out-shooting the Aggies, 16-1, but four brilliant saves by Utah State goalkeeper Woller kept the match scoreless at halftime.

BYU hosts UNLV on Saturday night in a game scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. MT. Utah State hosts Idaho State on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT.

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