BYU soccer: Orange County has Cougars feeling blue

PROVO — In a game featuring a combined six cautions and one ejection, the Orange County Blue Star kept their undefeated record intact Saturday night by beating BYU, 3-0. The Blue Star is now 8-0-3 while BYU drops to 2-5-2, losing its third home game in four tries.

"Our guys really worked hard," said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. "I feel bad for them. We've got a lot of good goal scorers. They are not great goal scorers but you get a little tight in a game like this."

Blue Star forward, Amani Walker, scored his league-leading 12th goal of the season in the 28th minute on a backwards flick on the ground from teammate, Cito Soriano. In the 32nd minute BYU junior forward, BJ Pugmire shot a rocket outside the right side of the box that hit the crossbar after a finger tip save from Orange County keeper, Patrick McLain. Soriano changed the game with his earlier assist but more with red card in the 38th minute after an attempted elbow at BYU defender, James Bindrup's head. Playing up a man for the final 52 minutes, BYU had a bevy of attacking chances in the second half.

In the 62nd minute Brit Osborne delivered a cross that Zach De Francis headed at goal only to see it ricochet from McLain to a Matt Rider shot which was deflected by a defender, and KC Whitworth blasted it over the goal, out of play.

The Cougars couldn't convert any of their 13 shots while the Blue Star added two short-handed, counter-attack goals by Celso Alvarez in the 80th minute and Christian Ramirez in the 90th minute. Both scored their first goals of the season.

The Cougars will now prepare to travel to Fresno next week to play the Fuego on Thursday.