Playing 90 minutes of soccer in a cold, drizzling rain is not easy. Thirty minutes of overtime makes it even tougher.
In the end, however, two hours of running around in the rain was well worth it for the BYU women's soccer team Thursday night.The Cougars all but ensured themselves home field advantage for the upcoming WAC soccer tournament with a 3-2 overtime victory over league-favorite San Diego State. BYU, now 16-1 on the year and 3-1 in the WAC, will host the eight-team league tourney Nov. 6-9 if it beats Hawaii Saturday night. The Rainbow Wahine are only 3-10-2 overall and 0-2-1 in the WAC.
"We just had to make it exciting," said Cougar coach Jennifer Rockwood of Thursday's hard-fought victory. "I definitely aged a bit during this game."
The Cougars, in only their second season of NCAA Division I soccer, are also coming of age. SDSU, the defending WAC champs, entered Thursday's game with a 3-0 league record. The Aztecs could have wrapped up the home field advantage in the WAC tourney for themselves with a victory over the Cougars.
But BYU sophomore sensation Shauna Rohbock headed a Michelle Jensen corner kick into the back of the net for the game-winning goal five minutes into the overtime period. The overtime is not sudden death, however, so the Cougs had to withstand a furious SDSU push in the final minutes. The Cougs, led by defender Emily Lubeck and goal keeper Camille Thomas, were up to the task.
The Aztecs took the lead on a goal by Catherine McGuire late in the first half. It didn't take long for BYU to get it back, however, as Cougar freshman Maren Hendershot scored her 12th goal of the year off a cross by Rohbock less than two minutes into the second half.
The Cougs went up 2-1 when Hendershot was tripped in the penalty box midway through the second half and Rohbock made the Aztecs pay with a perfect penalty-kick goal into the left side of the net. SDSU knotted the game again, however, when freshman Lori LaCoursiera headed in a corner kick with under 10 minutes to play in regulation.
The Aztecs had 16 shots on goal for the game, but eight of those shots came during overtime. BYU took 20 shots, but only three in the extra period.
Rohbock's two goals gives her a WAC-high 22 on the season.
While Hawaii is winless in the league, Saturday's game is still a major concern to Rockwood. "It will be a tough. It's one of those games that makes you nervous as a coach."