Cougars edged out by Waves, 2-1

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s soccer fell 2-1 to No. 13 Pepperdine Thursday night at South Field.

“I’m really proud of this team, probably as proud as any team I’ve coached,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “The ball hasn’t bounced our way even though we’ve played some great soccer.”

Forward Madie Mathews put the Cougars on the board first with a 25-yard shot to the top left corner of the goal in the 14th minute. Defender Rachel Bingham recorded the assist. BYU became first team to score on the Waves in conference play.

“(Mathews) shot nice and early and caught the keeper off guard,” Rockwood said. “That was a great goal and we weren’t able to maintain that momentum.”

Pepperdine midfielder Joelle Anderson connected with the back of the net twice within five minutes to take a commanding lead. In the 19th minute, Anderson fired an equalizer to the upper right corner, just beyond the outstretched arms of BYU goalkeeper Hannah Clark. Anderson’s second long-range hit the bottom of the crossbar and ricocheted in for a final score of 2-1.

The Cougars outshot the Waves 23-13 while both teams had seven on frame. Clark recorded five saves in goal.

BYU hosts Loyola Marymount in their final home game of the season on Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT. The game can be streamed live on the TheW.tv with radio broadcasts on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143) and ESPN 960 AM.