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BYU's Halle Dixon (2) maneuvers around a pair of Boise State defenders during a women's college soccer game at South Field on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU women's soccer team celebrates a goal in a game against Boise State at South Field on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Pressley Freeman (20) fights for the ball with Boise State's Ali Chatterton during a women's college soccer game at South Field on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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It was time to get offensive.

The BYU women’s soccer team has struggled with scoring so far in 2024, netting just four goals in the first five games of the season. That’s 450 minutes of soccer and plenty of frustration for the Cougars.

On Wednesday against Boise State, BYU finally broke loose in a 2-0 victory in front of 4,141 Cougar fans at South Field.

Two goals might not be considered an offensive explosion, but it was the first time this season the Cougars had scored multiple goals in a game. BYU scored twice in the first half and held on against a talented Broncos side to earn its second victory of the season.

“Something we’ve been trying to do is score first and score early, then score again,” Cougar coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “It was a super tough game and I’m really proud of the way we battled. Boise State is athletic and physical. They play direct and that’s a very hard game for our back line to defend. Tara (Warner), Avery (Frischknecht) and Lynette (Hernaez) were phenomenal tonight.

“I mean, it’s a big night, right? There’s a lot on the line for both teams and there was a great environment with our huge fan base. South Field, there’s just nothing quite like it. So I think Boise was excited and came after us pretty hard. We kind of withstood a lot of their pressure early on and then we were able to come up with a big goal to calm things down a little bit.”

The first half was a physical battle with 12 fouls (eight on Boise State) and three yellow cards (two on the Broncos). Boise State managed a shot off the right post in the first 30 seconds but BYU’s Mattyn Summers answered in the 3rd minute with a shot that BSU goalkeeper Genevieve Crenshaw just managed to block away.

The Cougars had four corner kicks in the first ten minutes but couldn’t capitalize. Finally, in the 16th minute, freshman Emma Hamberline delivered a gorgeous cross from the deep corner and fellow freshman Ella Labrum snaked her foot between the legs of a Boise State defender to re-direct the ball in for a 1-0 BYU lead.

The Cougars kept up the offensive pressure and scored again in the 35th minute thanks to some fancy footwork by Halle Dixon. The diminutive freshman deked a Bronco defender twice and found herself unmarked, delivering a 30-foot scorcher that beat Crenshaw for a 2-0 BYU lead.

“It’s kind of hard to describe,” Dixon said. “I just got the ball in the half space. We’ve been working on it all week in practice. I love going 1 v. 1, it’s my favorite thing. I got my defender going left and then I cut back going right. I saw there was an open gap and honestly, I just hit it and it went in.”

Both teams had eight shots in the first half, but only one shot on goal for Boise State.

BYU’s defense was stressed in the second half by the hard-charging Broncos, but withstood every attack to preserve the victory. It was the second clean sheet of the season Hernaez.

Both teams finished with 15 shots, with the Cougars putting six on goal. BYU led in corners 9-7 and Boise State was whistled for 14 fouls to the Cougars’ eight.

This is likely the youngest team Jennifer Rockwood has ever coached in Provo. On Wednesday, Rockwood started five freshmen, four sophomores, one junior and one senior. Labrum and Dixon came through in scoring both Cougar goals, the first of their careers.

“Our offense was really good but our defense was just as good tonight, if not better,” Dixon said. “I’m super proud of our efforts tonight as a team. We played really well and I’m super happy.”

BYU is now 3-0 all-time against Boise State. The two teams met during non conference play in 2023, when the Cougars beat the Broncos 4-1 at the Boas Soccer Complex in Boise.

Boise State (3-1-0) will host Idaho on Sunday. BYU (2-2-2) will travel to SEC country on Saturday for a matchup with No. 8 Arkansas.

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