PROVO, Utah – After dropping in the rankings last week, BYU soccer made a case to move back up.
The Cougars went into Big Ten Country and defeated No. 20 Ohio State, 2-0. BYU midfielder and former American Fork High star Jamie Shepherd scored both goals.
It was the first time in her BYU career that she scored multiple goals in a game.
THATS A DUB🌟 pic.twitter.com/j6vW3IxU4g
— BYU Women’s Soccer (@byusoccer_w) August 27, 2022
No. 9 BYU is now 2-0 in the regular season.
Shepherd has had the tall task this season of replacing superstar Mikayla Colohan (Cluff) from last year’s national runner-up team. However, a two-goal performance shows Shepherd is becoming more comfortable in her new role.
After a scoreless first half in Columbus, Shepherd got BYU on the board in the 65th minute on an assist from fellow star player Brecken Mozingo. The same thing happened in the 72nd minute as BYU put the game away for good with another Shepherd goal.
“She’s getting better with each game and that experience certainly tonight will be a good confidence booster,” said BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood of Shepherd on the BYU Sports Network. “She played really well even up to that point before she scored. She was very effective getting lots of balls facing forward. But for her to come up and pick two goals for us is huge. Super excited about that.”
As a team, BYU had 42 shots to Ohio State’s six and the shots on goal leaned heavily in favor of the Cougars. BYU had 13 shots on goal to the Buckeyes’ four.
“Huge game for us to come into Ohio State [with a win], such a great program. To come in and play the way we did, really proud of the girls. Really proud of the energy and the effort that they gave tonight, and just a great all-around team performance for us,” said Rockwood.
The loss drops Ohio State to 2-1 overall on the season.
Next Up for BYU Soccer
BYU women’s soccer opens up the home schedule for the 2022 season on Monday, August 29. The Cougars welcome the Colorado Buffaloes from the Pac-12 Conference. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 pm in Provo.
The Colorado game is the start of a three-game week for BYU as they will also host the Alabama Crimson Tide from the SEC on Thursday, September 1, and Cal State Northridge on Saturday, September 3.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
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