No. 5 BYU plays to a 0-0 stalemate with No. 20 Santa Clara

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – No. 5 BYU women’s soccer played to a stalemate with No. 20 Santa Clara on the road Saturday in a 0-0 draw.

"After a tough loss on Thursday, we certainly bounced back against a quality team," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "We got great minutes from a lot of people after just a day off and battled a good team to a draw."

In the first half, BYU’s best chance came off a ball played from Madie Lyons to Nadia Gomes behind the defense. Gomes missed right of the post. In the second half, Michele Murphy Vasconcelos had a look late in the 88th minute but couldn’t beat the keeper to the near post.

In overtime, Santa Clara’s Jenna Holtz hit the crossbar on a shot from outside the area in the 100th minute. BYU found Gomes inside the 6-yard box but she couldn’t find an opening to put a shot on goal. Bizzy Phillips’ shot from 30 yards out forced a save from Santa Clara’s Andi Tostanoski in the 105th minute.

BYU goalkeeper Rachel Boaz made four saves, but was active patrolling her area all game making sliding saves outside the 6-yard box in both halves to prevent goal scoring chances. It is the eighth shutout of the season for Boaz and 11th for the team this year.

Santa Clara out shot BYU 17-11, but the Cougars found just as many chances on frame as did the Broncos with four. Santa Clara earned one more corner kick than BYU at 6-5.

Gomes led the BYU attack with seven shots. Elena Medeiros took two shots and put one on goal. Vasconcelos and Jocelyn Loomis each put their only shot on goal.

BYU returns home to finish the conference season with games against Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary’s over the next two weeks.

The Cougars host Pepperdine on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and can be heard on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, ESPN 960 AM, BYU Radio and Sirius XM 143.