Y. hangs on to defeat Outlaws in narrow win
The Cougars' 1-0 win over Ogden (5-6-2, 17 points) wasn't easy by any stretch, but they made the most of their best chance of the night.
BYU's game-winning goal came with 20 minutes left in the match. Ogden goalkeeper Jeff Rogers was out of position with the Cougars (11-1-1, 34 points) pressing, and Brock Trejo passed the ball left to an open Tyson Miller for his fourth goal of the season.
With BYU's win, team members inch closer to their first division title with three matches left to play.
"Until we scored the goal, they sat back," said BYU coach Chris Watkins. "We put six goals on them last time, so they were going to make us earn it."
Missed chances by the Cougars and the Outlaws — mainly due to passes not hitting their target or players not running into open space — led to the lack of scoring opportunities for most of the match. Not much separated the teams as BYU's seven shots-on-goal just edged Ogden's six shots.
One chance that should have ended in the back of the net was Ogden midfielder James Jaramillo's shot when he was all alone in the box in the 65th minute. An errant clearing attempt by the Cougars put the ball right at Jaramillo's boot, but he wasn't able to hit the ball cleanly.
The Outlaws' next best chance came when Marco Martinez almost evened the match in the 80th minute, but his shot from Andrew Morris' almost-perfect pass missed just to the left.
BYU could have given the game away when it was down a man in the last 10 minutes of the game when Zack DeFrancis — who will miss the Cougars' next match — received his second yellow card within the space of a few minutes. Ogden wasn't able to capitalize with a man up.
The sides were timid in the first half of the match, as the defenders kept their opposite man in front of them to prevent any breaks.
There isn't much time for the teams to lick their wounds. They face each other again on Saturday evening in Ogden with the kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at Ogden High School in their fourth and final matchup of the season.
You can be the first to comment on this story.