BYU soccer: Marshall's second-half goal gives BYU a win over archrival Ogden

WASHINGTON TERRACE — Heading into the locker-room at halftime of their second meeting in four days with arch-rival Ogden, BYU's men's soccer players found themselves in a familiar position.

For 45 minutes, BYU had possessed the ball extremely well and had been playing good soccer.

The Cougars just didn't have anything to show for their efforts.

It was precisely what had happened to BYU over 90 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Ogden last Tuesday, and it could've been easy for the Cougars to get frustrated after failing to get on the scoreboard against their rival in the first half Saturday evening.

But the Cougars refused to do that.

Striker Brady Marshall scored from close range in the 54th minute to finally put BYU on the board, and the Cougars did precisely what they needed to do the rest of the way to secure a 1-0 win over Ogden.

"In the locker-room (at halftime), we just kind of decided we'd just go hard for the first 10 minutes (and) that the goal would come," said BYU center back Drew VanWagenen. "We believed, and sure enough it happened."

Getting a goal off a set-piece is something that BYU's coaching staff had been preaching to its players over the past three games, and they came up with the goods just under 10 minutes into the second half.

Midfielder Brit Osborne whipped in a corner kick toward the top edge of the right side of the six-yard box, where center back KC Whitworth was stationed.

Whitworth rose well to nod the ball the ball back toward the left post, and Marshall did well to head it home from point-blank range.

"We possess the ball, but the key (was) that I told the guys, 'If we could get a goal off a set-play, a set-piece, we're gonna win the game," said BYU assistant coach Chad Sackett. "That's a lot of what we've been reiterating — if we can get a goal off a set-piece . . . and vice-versa, if we don't get a goal (scored) on us defensively on a set-piece, we'll win the game."

After scoring a couple of times back in the preseason, Marhsall finally netted his first PDL goal of the year.

It couldn't have come soon enough.

"He's had so many great chances (and) he just fights so hard," said Sackett, "and I'm glad he was (finally) able to basically work one into the goal tonight.

BYU outshot Ogden 17-2 and played good soccer after Marshall's goal, but after failing to add a second, the Cougars had to survive a late scare to hang on.