Nov. 4, 2010
SAN DIEGO -
(2) BYU-(3) San Diego State Final Box in PDF Format
Third-seeded San Diego State dropped a 2-0 decision to second-seeded and No. 18 BYU Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer Championship at SDSU Sports Deck. The loss puts the Aztecs record at 8-10-3, while the Cougars improve to 15-3-2.
Brigham Young got on the scoreboard first when Carlee Payne found herself with a breakaway opportunity and put her shot into the corner past SDSU keeper Aubree Southwick in the eighth minute.
The Aztecs' first golden chance came on a corner kick. MWC Freshman of the Year Haley Palmer took the corner from the far side and sophomore Marisa Fraticelli took a rip at it, but her shot was blocked by a BYU player in the 18th minute. Aside from the Cougar goal and Fraticelli's attempt, both teams went back and forth until the halftime horn sounded.
The first 14 minutes of the second half was similar to how the initial 45 minutes ended - with the teams trading possessions. In the 60th minute, senior Michaela DeJesus dribbled the ball toward the net and took a quality shot, but was denied by BYU goalie McKinzie Olson.
DeJesus' attempt seemed to spark San Diego State and the Aztecs found themselves in the offensive third with regularity. In the 73rd minute, sophomore Sarah Halverson was in the middle of the box and took a solid shot, but, again, Olson was there with the sliding save.
Just minutes after Halverson's valiant effort, Lauren Anderson took a corner kick from the near side and bended her shot inside the near post to give the Cougars all the scoring they would need.
BYU finished with a 12-8 advantage in shots, but only outshot the Aztecs, 5-4, in shots on goal. SDSU finished with a 6-4 edge in corner kicks.
Halverson and DeJesus led San Diego State with two shots apiece, with Halverson putting a team-best two shots on goal. Southwick, meanwhile, finished with three saves.