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Utah and BYU Battle To 1-1 Tie In Women's Soccer
Feigt scores second half goal, Mason makes seven saves for Utes
Oct. 29, 2005 PROVO, Utah - The Utah-BYU soccer rivalry was intense as ever Friday night at BYU's South Stadium. Braving cold and wet conditions, the Utes and Cougars battled through 90 minutes of regulation play and two overtime periods before settling for a 1-1 tie. The third-largest crowd in BYU history of 3,083 would not go home disappointed, however. Even though Utah had already clinched the Mountain West Conference regular season title last weekend, both teams went after each other with all they had for 110 minutes. The Cougars, ranked No. 12 in this week's NSCAA/adidas Top 25 poll, already had a loss and a tie in Mountain West Conference play after an 11-0-1 nonconference season. The Utes, on the other hand, had won six in a row against league foes to right themselves after dropping five of their last six nonconference games. With both teams looking to improve their NCAA Tournament resume, there was plenty to play for in the final game of the regular season. After a scoreless first half that was played through a steady drizzle, BYU got a goal from Annie Zwahlen in the 53rd minute. Katie Larkin volleyed a pass ahead to Zwahlen, who was in deep on the Ute defense and fired away from the left side. The shot deflected off of Utah defender Melissa Wayman, then slipped past keeper Ashley Mason. The Utes tied it up in the 69th minute. Chelsea Card and Adele Letro worked the ball to Amanda Feigt, who drove down the left side of the field and blasted a left-footed shot top shelf from 15 yards out. It was the seventh goal of the season for the junior from Sandy, Utah.
Utah had its best chance to untie the game with 15:10 left in the second half. Letro dribbled in behind the Cougar defense, then had an open net in front of her as BYU keeper Erika Woodbury slipped trying to get in position. Letro played it safe, sending a soft shot toward the near post on the right side. However, defender Brooke Thulin was able to recover and get back to block the attempt just shy of the goal line. With 4:41 left in regulation, Ute freshman Katy Reineke took a shot from 15 yards out on the left side that was saved by Woodbury. Through the first 90 minutes, BYU had the advantage 13-6 in shots and 7-1 in corner kicks. However, the Utes were the aggressor in the overtime periods, setting up the only corner kick and outshooting the Cougars 2-1. Letro had a chance to win the game inside of three minutes left in the second overtime. She penetrated the 18-yard box and had a decent look from 10 yards away, but sent her shot to the left side of the frame. BYU came out strong in the first 20 minutes of the game, setting up the first five corner kicks. Utah didn't set up a corner until the 24th minute. The Cougars came close to scoring with 17:21 left in the first half. The teams were battling for the ball in front of the Ute net when Bobbi Tillotson took a shot from point-blank range that that was punched out by Mason to the right side of the goal. Mason made seven saves in the game while Woodbury had three. Utah wrapped-up its regular season 13-5-1 overall and 6-0-1 in the Mountain West, earning the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament in Las Vegas. BYU finished 4-1-2 in league play and 15-1-3 overall, and will be either the second or third seed in the tournament. The Utes, which have won the last two Mountain West Conference Tournaments, play their quarterfinal game against Air Force on Wednesday at UNLV's Peter Johann Memorial Field. Utah and BYU could meet again in the championship game on Saturday. |
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