BYU Beats SoCal for First Win of the Season
Jarom Jordan
jarom.jordan@byu.edu
BYU won its first game of the season, Saturday night. (BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah (May 29, 2010) -- The BYU Cougars won their first game of the season with a 2-0 victory on the road against the Southern California Seahorses Saturday night. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and marked the first shutout of the season.
"I was real proud of our guys to bounce back after a couple of tough games," said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. "Tonight it all came together. It was fun to win like that on the road. It was a great result for us."
BYU (1-3-1) got the game winner, just five minutes into the match when freshman forward, Toni Niccoli, beat a couple of defenders and fired a shot from 30 yards out that gave BYU its first lead in any PDL game this season. It was Niccoli's second goal of the year after scoring Thursday night against Los Angeles. In the 18th minute, senior midfielder and co-captain Brit Osborne, received a cross in the box from junior defender, Cameron Lamb that he buried from six yards out. Osborne has now scored two goals on the season.
"It was a huge win for us," said Toni Niccoli. We were looking to get two wins this weekend. We're disappointed about losing Thursday so that upped the ante tonight. We needed the points for our confidence. We needed the win. It's going to be a good stepping stone."
"As a coach (winning) makes us really feel like we're on the right track," said Watkins. "We're getting better as a team. The guys never quit on us."
BYU will hit the road against next week to play Thursday against the 2009 Southwest division champion, Hollywood Hitmen and Saturday versus the 2009 PDL Champion, Ventura County Fusion. Both games kickoff at 7 p.m. PT.
"Next weekend is huge," said Niccoli. "We're playing the top two teams in the league. It's only going to get harder from here."
Scoring Summary
5' BYU 1-0 Toni Niccoli
18' BYU 2-0 Brit Osborne (Cam Lamb)
Starters (Subs)
GK: Bryan Black
D: Cameron Lamb (Tyler Christiansen), KC Whitworth, Drew Van Wagenen, James Bindrup (Doug Clark)
M: Brent Jensen, Matt Rider, Brit Osborne (Kip Critchlow)
F: BJ Pugmire (Jantzen Romney), Toni Niccoli (Connor Bassett), Blake Tillotson
Postgame Notes
-BYU recorded its first win and shutout of the season
-The Cougars are 1-0-1 when scoring two goals this season (5/8 tie at Orange County and 5/29 win at Southern California)
-Brit Osborne and Toni Niccoli both scored their second goals of the season and both have combined to score four of BYU's five goals this season
-Matt Rider made his first career start in PDL action
-The Cougars snapped a three-game losing streak, its longest since 2006
-Connor Bassett made his first appearance in the PDL since 2007 following his two-year, LDS mission
-Bryan Black started Saturday after sitting out Thursday with an injury
-James Bindrup received a yellow card
