The BYU–Hawaii women’s soccer team started conference play last week on Sept. 28 to Oct. 3, with a 1-1-1 record. The Lady Seasiders were able to recover from a disappointing loss against Academy of Art at the start of the week by beating Notre Dame de Namur and tying Fresno Pacific.
“The loss against Academy of Art was a bad way to start off the week but I am proud of how the girls responded and were able to come back and get four points off of the next two games,” said head coach Mark Davis.
Saturday, Oct. 3 the Lady Seasiders faced off against Fresno Pacific who came into the game with the identical 1-1-0 record as BYUH. It was a physical match that saw a combined 38 fouls and six yellow cards from the two teams. Both teams played exceptional defense limiting the other to scarce scoring chances as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
Jessica Smith, a freshman from Utah, had the best chance to break the deadlock during overtime but saw her shot go just over the crossbar. Kate Orchard, Kate Gurney, and Rebekah McCarthy also had chances to score but were unable to convert. The Lady Seasider’s defense, led by keeper Kelsey East, a junior from Utah studying exercise and sport science, maintained the shut-out while also limiting Fresno Pacific to three shots on goal for the entire game. “Our defense played great today and did a great job at really limiting the space for Fresno’s offense,” said East.
Wednesday, Oct. 1, the Lady Seasiders got their first win of the year against visiting Notre Dame de Namur, 2-0. Smith and McCarthy each scored giving the Lady Seasiders the win. Gurney found Smith off of a free kick in the 29th minute that Smith was able to finish to give the Lady Seasiders the 1-0 lead.
It was not until the second half that the Lady Seasiders were able to get the insurance goal. In the 74th minute Kristine Reynolds, a junior from Utah played McCarthy through with a great pass, putting McCarthy 1-on-1 with the keeper. McCarthy calmed put the ball past the keeper giving BYU–Hawaii the 2-0 win.
“It was great to get a win and to put on back on track, I was happy that I was able to help my team by scoring my first team,” said McCarthy, a sophomore exercise and sports science major from Brentwood, California.
In their first conference game the Lady Seasiders were unable to execute offensively and finish off their chances against Academy of Art after pushing the game to overtime where Academy of Art scored the winning goal off of their only shot on goal that game.