College soccer roundup: BYU notches another win over a top-25 team

PROVO — In front of a season-high 2,564 attendance at South Field on Friday night, the No. 12-ranked BYU women's soccer team (5-0) took on the No. 21 Washington State Cougars and seized a 3-1 victory in BYU's second win over a top-25 team this season.

Cami Jensen took the first shot on goal in the 23rd minute, deflected by WSU goalie Ariana Byrd.

The Cougars headed into the locker room at halftime with seven attempts on goal, but were unable to get the ball in the net. WSU shot twice on goal but also found no success. Both teams left the field scoreless.

Jennie Marshall finally put the ball in the net in the eighth minute of the second half with an assist from Lauren Anderson, scoring her team-high fifth goal of the season.

In the 16th minute, the Cougars had a close call when WSU sent the ball close to BYU's goal on a corner kick, but it was knocked away just in time. BYU junior goalkeeper McKinzie Olson recorded three saves in the victory.

Brandi Vega broke away and went one-on-one with Olson with 15:39 left to play, sticking the ball into the goal to tie the game at 1-1.

It only took the Cougars 90 seconds to answer Vega's goal, with Jessica Ringwood stealing back the lead with a free-kick right over the head of Washington State's goalie. The goal was Ringwood's second of the season.

BYU got its third goal just 10 minutes later. A pass to the center gave Marshall an open shot on goal. Marshall grabbed the opportunity and sent the ball sailing over Byrd's head for BYU's third goal of the night with less than five minutes left to play.

BYU ended the game with 12 attempts on goal, and WSU had nine.

The Cougars' next matchup will be at home against LSU on Thursday, September 9, at 7 p.m.

UTES FALL TO LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: At Salt Lake City, the University of Utah women's soccer team (0-5-0) dropped its home opener to Loyola Marymount University (3-1-0) by a 2-0 score at Ute Field on Friday night.

The Utes outshot the Lions 25-12 in front of a crowd of 1,001, but were kept off the scoreboard for the fourth straight game.

"Once again, I was proud of the team and the way our players battled," Utah coach Rich Manning said. "We played a really strong second half and did a lot of good things. We are playing with so much heart right, now but we just aren't finding the net.