BYU women’s soccer bounced back in a key road spot Monday evening to keep pace with the top teams in the Big 12 table.
Bella Woods scored the only goal of the match Monday as No. 20 BYU bounced back with a 1-0 win over Cincinnati at Gettler Stadium in southwestern Ohio.
Paiton Collins made four saves to preserve the shutout in her first 90-minute start of the season, and also pulled down a loose ball in her box in the closing seconds as the Cougars improved to 8-3-2 and 4-1-1 in Big 12 play following their first conference loss of the year.
That keeps BYU in a four-way tie for second place in the conference, just 3 points behind league-leading Texas Tech (9-0-4, 5-0-1 Big 12).
Four days after out-shooting No. 16 West Virginia in a 2-0 loss, the 20th-ranked Cougars threw caution to the wind with an aggressive attack. The visitors put six of their 15 shots on frame, and forced eight corner kicks while playing to a scoreless first half.
Woods opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with a direct free kick that leaped from her right foot to the corner to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
It’s the second goal in three matches for Woods, the Utah transfer from Alta High who was an attacking player growing up before gradually transitioning toward defense and starting 13-straight matches at center back since transferring to BYU.
“I’ve been practicing bending it around the wall for a while,” Woods said after the match. “As soon as I saw the keeper go to that post, I knew I had an opening for the shot.”
BYU returns home Friday night to host No. 12 Texas Tech. Kickoff from South Field is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT on ESPN+ before a two-match road trip at Kansas and Iowa State.
