Overtime goal lifts ranked Cougars over Aggies
An overtime kick by Brigham Young University forward Katie Larkin grabbed the victory for the Cougars as USU fell 1-0 at home Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ali Griffin thwarted 20 shots by BYU in regulation play to send the game into overtime. The Cougars didn’t score until the sixth minute of overtime play as Larkin nailed a high shot from 25 yards out.
“It came down to their all-American,” Head Coach Heather Cairns said. “Their all-American made a play.”
The Aggie defense played a close defense throughout the game, limiting the Cougars to only seven shots in the first half. The defense also prevented the early game attack by opponents that has plagued the team this year, Cairns said.
“We knew that they had scored a lot of their goals in the first 20-25 minutes of the half, so we knew that we were going to have to take it to them, not let them take it to us,” Cairns said. “As long as we’re taking to people, they’re not taking it to us. That was part of our game plan – to go at them and go at them hard.”
Offensively, the Aggies applied consistent pressure on Cougar goalkeeper Erika Woodbury, shooting as early as eight minutes into the game. USU players Lindsey Smart, Abby Hunt and Charity Weston all had shots but couldn’t land any in the net.
The final minutes of the first half showed a reverse in the mainstream Aggie attack as the Cougars fired on Griffin. In the 44th minute of play, the Cougars drilled the ball off a corner kick, which Griffin smacked away.
Commenting on Griffin, Cairns said, “She was phenomenal. She made good decisions today. She knew when to stay on her line and she knew when to come out and try and win those balls that they were trying to play in behind our defense.”
The second half was controlled by BYU. Where the Cougars only managed seven shots in the first half, they returned to their typical level of play by firing 13 shots in the second half. The Aggie defensive backline comprised of Jessie Malaska, Lindsey Smart, Jessica Darrow and Alyssa Lowry, held off the Cougar onslaught. The strong offensive attack by BYU limited the attack time of the Aggies as they had only two shots in the second half.
“I think defensively as a group we were outstanding,” Cairns said. “There were so many great individual defensive plays that happened in the game, but it was also just a great collective team defense because you can’t just defend with one person – you got to defend as a group.”
In the final 15 minutes of regulation, a heavy hailstorm limited the visibility and playability of the players. Quarter-inch hailstones rained on the field, making the field slick.
“The snowstorm was kind of rough because the hail hurt,” Griffin said. “That was bad. But the slickness, you just have to deal with it as a goalie. It’s just part of the game.”
Griffin made a career-high eight saves on the day. She faced a wide array of shots, including one-on-one play and a high kick that she tipped over the bar. But despite her defensive stance, BYU’s Larkin got the ball over in the sixth minute of overtime to win the game for the Cougars.
“We’re frustrated that we didn’t win,” Griffin said. “It’s obviously a game we could have won. They’re a great opponent. When you play that well against an opponent, you want to win.”
The No. 19-ranked Cougars improved to 6-1-0 on the season with the win and lead the overall series against the Aggies 4-0. This was the first time BYU has played in Logan. The Aggies fell to 2-5 on the season.
The Aggies get a break until Friday when they will face Southern Utah in Cedar City, after which they will take on the University of Utah on Sunday, Sept. 24 in Salt Lake City.
-sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu