BYU Ties the PDL Champs on the Road
Jarom Jordan
jarom.jordan@byu.edu
The Cougars took a point on the road from the 09' PDL Champions.
VENTURA, California (June 5, 2010) -- The BYU Cougars tied the 2009 Premier Development League champion, Ventura County Fusion, 0-0 at Buena High School on Saturday night. It was BYU's first shutout of the season and first scoreless tie since June 16, 2006.
"We played really well," said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. "It's been a season where we've been working hard. Tonight was no different. Things came together pretty well for us. To come so close on the road is a little heart breaking but I'm proud of our performance tonight."
"It brought back a little bit of the memories of playing the U21 Mexican national team," said assistant coach, Chad Sackett. "Everyone from the bench players to the starters played hard. We possessed the ball well. Soccer's a funny game. The fact that it ends up 0-0 is a good result for us."
Despite multiple runs at goal throughout the 90 minutes, BYU's best scoring chance came on the final play of the game. Three minutes into stoppage time the Cougars took a corner kick that found the feet of freshman midfielder, Pedro Vasconcelos. The Brazilian curled the ball into the upper right corner of the goal, only to see Ventura goalkeeper, Bryan Hill get a pinky on the ball, bouncing it off the crossbar and out. The Cougars were out shot 8-6 and out cornered 4-3 but put continued pressure on the defending champs.
"You look back and it's a good result for us on the road," said senior midfielder, Brent Jensen. "It's a little unfortunate because we had chances to win it. It was a fun game to play in. We look forward to playing them again and getting a win at our place."
The Fusion's best opportunity was in the 30th minute when a long throw-in was flicked to the far post where league leading goal scorer and former Chivas USA forward, Brent Whitfield headed the ball on frame. Bryan Black made the save and ended up securing his first shutout of the season and sixth of his career.
"Hopefully this provides a great stepping stone for us forward," said Watkins.
BYU will have a week off before preparing for the Southern California Seahorses on Friday, June 18 in Provo.
Starters (Substitutions):
GK: Bryan Black
D: KC Whitworth, Drew Van Wagenen, Tyler Christiansen, Cameron Lamb
M: Brent Jensen, Matt Rider, Pedro Vasconcelos
F: BJ Pugmire (Blake Tillotson), Brady Marshall, Toni Niccoli (Zach De Francis)
Cautions:
Ventura-Armando Guerrero (Y)
Ventura-Arthur Aghasyan (Y)
Notes:
-Regular starters Brit Osborne (injured quad) and James Bindrup (married yesterday) did not start
-Pedro Vasconcelos made his first career start
-The Cougars started two freshman in the midfield (Vasconcelos & Rider) who played together at East High School in Salt Lake City
-BYU gave up four goals at Ventura in 2009 and two goals at home (in a tie) but posted a shutout in the first meeting of 2010
