Utah penalty kick downs Cougars 1-0

SALT LAKE CITY -- A year after winning on a late penalty kick, BYU women's soccer had the favor returned by Utah on Friday at Ute Field. Katie Taylor scored on an 84th minute penalty kick to give the Utes a 1-0 win.

"Our first half we did a fantastic job of creating opportunities and playing really well," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "But we need to be more physical, battle harder and find more ways to win."

A 10-3 shot advantage in the first half for BYU (1-2-2) disappeared in the second as Utah (4-0-1) outshot the Cougars 8-3 and kept BYU scoreless.

Ashley Hatch led the Cougars in shot with six, putting three on goal including a couple from tight angles in the second half. Elena Medeiros took three shots and also put one on goal.

BYU goalkeepers Katherine Snyder and Hannah Clark kept the Utes at bay for 84 minutes. Snyder ranged to the edge of her box twice to keep the ball off the foot of an Utah attacker. She also grabbed two shots right off the foot of a Ute inside the 6-yard box to keep it scoreless going into half.

Clark stopped a header off a corner kick in the 75th minute and deflected a free kick off the crossbar in the 82nd minute. In the 84th a diagonal ball to the edge of the box looking for Utah's Ali Allen was poked away by Clark who then barreled through Allen. Utah was awarded the penalty kick and Taylor put it in the upper right corner for the gamewinner.

"We had plenty of opportunities to score in the first half and it shouldn't have had to come down to that," Rockwood said of the penalty. 

The Cougars return to South Field for a four-game homestand beginning on Thursday, Sept. 11 with LSU. The game will kick off at 6 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on TheW.tv.