BYU soccer: Cougars ride team defense to victory

PROVO — The goals seemingly came easy for BYU last week when the Cougars scored five times to beat Utah, but that wasn't the case Thursday night against UNLV.

Fortunately for the Cougars, one goal by Whitney Feller in the 57th minute was enough to give them the 1-0 win, thanks to an outstanding effort by the BYU defense.

"It was solid team defense," said BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood. "Obviously we have four very experienced defenders in the back and our goalkeeper (McKinzie Olson) is getting more and more experience and feeling more comfortable. A lot of that is us keeping the ball and keeping teams from getting in any sort offensive rhythm."

In the first half, the Cougars were on the attack most of the time, outshooting the Rebels 13-1, but they were unable to come away with a goal. BYU's best chance for a first-half score came in the final two minutes when Becca Riddle's shot clanged off the far post before being cleared by the Rebels. Kassidy Christensen and Katie Hodgkiss both registered three shots out of the Cougars' 13 in the half.

Feller's game-winning goal came just inside the second half.

"It was off a corner," said Feller. "Andrea headed it in (the box), and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Whitney's been working hard, and I'm really happy for her to get that game winner," added Rockwood.

Feller's shot was one of 27 the Cougars took on the night to only five for UNLV.

"We had a lot of good opportunities," said Rockwood. "With 27 shots, we could have put a few more in, but a win's a win."

BYU did miss its share of shots, but the UNLV goalie, Alicia Lugo, did a tremendous job of keeping many of the Cougars' shots out of the net.

"She's a very good keeper," said Rockwood. "She's very athletic and very quick to read balls. I thought she did an outstanding job."

After starting the season 3-4, BYU (9-5) has now won six of seven games, including three straight and its first two Mountain West Conference games.