Provo • It wasn’t the way the BYU women’s soccer team wanted its first game at renovated South Field to go, but it probably wasn’t the worst thing that will happen to coach Jennifer Rockwood’s young squad this season, either.
The No. 8 Cougars (0-1-1) and unranked Ohio State (1-1-0) battled to a scoreless tie in front of 2,678 fans on the new turf that reigning WCC Defender of the Year Taylor Isom called “amazing, flat and phenomenal.”
The Cougars themselves were more flat, offensively at least, than those two other descriptions, but they did control most of the match and Rockwood saw some positive signs and progress.
“We obviously have to put the final touches on it because all that energy, all that work, doesn’t matter unless you reward yourself with scoring a goal,” Rockwood said.
The Cougars outshot the Buckeyes 18-15, but the visitors put more shots on frame (4-1). And Ohio State, which beat Arizona State 2-1 in overtime last week while BYU was losing its opener 3-1 to Penn State, handled the heat and altitude well enough to get stronger as the match wore on.
“I really thought we did a great job coming out. That’s something we haven’t done yet this year is get off to a strong start with a lot of energy, a lot of emotion. I thought we did that tonight,” Rockwood said.
The Cougars just couldn’t finish their scoring chances.
Their best opportunity came in the 38th minute when Elise Flake’s rocket from just outside the box ricocheted off the right post.
Nadia Gomes was wide left on two shots in the 76th and 78th minutes. In the first overtime, Lizzy Graby’s shot was just outside the post. And there were more.
“We just have to find a rhythm,” Graby said. “We are having a hard time finding a rhythm, but we will get it.”
The Cougars’ defense is supposed to be the strength of the team, and that unit didn’t disappoint. Ohio State was never in position to score, and its four shots on frame were not real threats. The Cougars walloped OSU 3-0 last year in Columbus, but gone are offensive stars Ashley Hatch and Michelle Vasconcelos.
“We kept a zero on the board,” Isom said. “Defensively, I thought we did well. … Yeah, it is always frustrating [to be held scoreless], but we win and lose as a team, so there is nothing that we can do about it defensively. We can help our forwards by getting them balls in the box. We will just have to work on that in practice.”
Temperature was 92 degrees at kickoff (5:30 p.m.), but it dropped to 80 by the time the first overtime began.
The Cougars will host Cal State Fullerton on Friday at South Field.
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