Cougars fall 2-1 to No. 3 UCLA on the road

LOS ANGELES — No. 7 ranked BYU women’s soccer fell to No. 3 UCLA, 2-1, Friday evening at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. 

A late goal by UCLA freshman Sunshine Fontez in the 74th minute off an assist by teammates Reilyn Turner and Delanie Sheehan gave the Bruins (2-0-0) a come from behind victory over the Cougars (1-1-0).

“It was a high energy, fast paced, tough battle,” said BYU women’s soccer coach Jen Rockwood. “We’re obviously disappointed in the outcome, but I thought we brought a lot of energy and had a chance to tie it at the end against one of the top teams in the country.”

BYU sophomore Jamie Shepherd scored the first goal of the match less than three minutes into the second half. The goal came off a corner kick by sophomore Brecken Mozingo that pinballed around in the goal box before Shepherd put it in the back of the net.

Bruin senior Marley Canales scored UCLA’s first goal of the game off a penalty kick from 15-feet inside the top of the box in the 59th minute to even the score at 1-1. 

Trailing 2-1 after the Fontez goal, the Cougars had a couple of chances over the last 16 minutes to score the equalizer, but a shot by Mikayla Colohan was saved by Bruin goalie Lauren Brzykcy and another by Cameron Tucker just missed high. 

The Cougars remain in Pac-12 country over the weekend to face No. 6 ranked USC on Monday, Feb. 15, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PST and will be carried live on the BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio 107.9 FM/BYU Cougars App with Greg Wrubell on the call. The game will also be streamed live on the Pac-12 Network. 

Game Notes:

• Shepherd’s goal at the 47:27 mark was her first of the season and third of her BYU career
• UCLA transfer sophomore Brecken Mozingo had the first assist of her BYU career
• Tucker and Colohan led BYU with two shots on goal each
• The 2-1 loss is the first regular season defeat for BYU since falling to Pepperdine 2-1 on Oct. 13, 2018
• The Cougars' only loss during the 2019 season came to eventual national champion Stanford in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament
• The scoreless first half was back and forth, as the Bruins held the advantage in total shots 8-6, while the Cougars led in shots on goal, 4-3

Game Quotes:

BYU women’s soccer coach Jen Rockwood
“I was pleased with the way we competed tonight. We had a lot of movement and were attacking well. This is a young team, but we battled to the end and gave it everything we had. It was a great experience for us to play a very talented team like UCLA.”

“USC will definitely be a challenge. We love the opportunity to play two top-10 teams early in the season. It will definitely make us better. We look forward to playing USC on Monday in such a storied venue like the L.A. Coliseum.” 

BYU sophomore forward Olivia Wade
“UCLA is very strong and super talented. I thought we gave it our best effort and I’m proud of the way we competed tonight. It’s great to play a team as talented as UCLA early in the season to see what our strengths are and where we can improve.”

“USC is always very strong. We are very excited play them on Monday in the Colosseum.”