BYU falls to No. 1 UCLA 1-0

PROVO, Utah — In front of a record crowd, 5,735 fans, BYU fell 1-0, to No. 1 UCLA at South Field on Friday night.

“I’m really proud of how our team battled tonight,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We knew we were up against an amazing opponent. I thought we did a fantastic job with our defense, holding a team like UCLA to one goal and being inches away from tying the game up a couple of times. I just think we have come a long way in the last week.”

This was the first time in BYU women’s soccer history that the Cougars have hosted the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

The Bruins came into the game having scored a record 17 goals in four games and the Cougars were able to hold them to only one, making it UCLA’s lowest scoring game of the year.

The only goal of the game was scored in the 16th minute of the game. UCLA junior Hailie Mace recorded her fifth goal of the season with a shot into the top left corner of the goal past BYU goalkeeper Hannah Clark.  

The Cougars continued to put pressure on goal in the first half. In the 27th minute, Nadia Gomes got a shot off from the 18-yard box. The ball ricocheted off the UCLA keeper’s hands and Elise Flake ripped the ball towards the goal but missed by only inches.

Going into halftime, BYU was trailing with six shots on goal to the Bruins 10.

In the second half, neither team was able to get the ball into the back of the net but both teams had multiple opportunities to score.

Nearing the 79th minute, Gomes had a breakaway opportunity and was one-on-one with the UCLA keeper. She took a touch with her left foot and rocketed the ball towards the goal but it hit the crossbar on its way out of bounds.

The Cougars hit the road to take on the No. 21 University of Colorado at Prentup Field on Monday, September 4 at 1:00 PM MDT. The game will be broadcast live on the PAC-12 Network and can be heard live on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143), ESPN 960 AM and on byucougars.com.