BYU smashes Oklahoma in Big 12 soccer tournament

There was no rust factor for the BYU Cougars soccer team on Monday in the Big 12 soccer tournament.

By virtue of being the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the Cougars had a bye in the first round last Saturday and were matched up against the 10-seed Oklahoma Sooners Monday with a trip to the tournament semifinals on the line.

BYU opened its conference tournament account early thanks to a goal from Bella Folino in the ninth minute, and then the Cougars went nuts, scoring five goals in the second half to cruise to a dominant 6-0 win.

Folino led the way with two goals, and four others found the net for BYU in the win.

After a rather even first half that saw both teams tally four shots, the Cougars came out firing in the second half and had a 4-0 lead and 14-8 advantage in shots by the 68th minute.

As if the outcome wasn’t already secure, BYU then added two more goals in the final 10 minutes of the match to seal the deal.

“At halftime, we talked about getting back to what we do as a team,” head coach Jennifer Rockwood said in a news release. “The Sooners were doing a good job in the first half with getting us frustrated with their direct play, and in the second half we committed to settling down and allowing our opportunities to come to us.

“A phenomenal second half for us, and we were really proud of the way we played. We had lots of different goal scorers tonight, so when they tried to shut one or two down, we had others ready to put the ball in the back of the net.”

In all, the Cougars outshot the Sooners 17-13, including an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal. Lynette Hernaez and Savanna Mason shared the clean sheet, with Hernaez playing the first 75 minutes and Mason coming on for the final 15.

In the semifinals, the Cougars will face the winner of Monday’s late match between 3-seed TCU and 6-seed UCF.