ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 4 BYU women’s soccer team came from behind to tie No. 23 Saint Louis 1-1 on Thursday evening at Hermann Stadium.
Junior forward Allie Fryer scored her second goal of the season in the second half, the 21st goal of her career in tonight’s draw.
The Cougars led in all statistical categories on the pitch tonight, outshooting the Billikens 20-11 and taking 12 corner kicks to SLU's three.
Sophomore goalkeeper Lynette Hernaez tallied six saves for the second game in a row in tonight's match. With nine shots on goal, the Cougars forced eight saves by SLU's goalkeeper.
First Half
The Cougars came out with a fast offensive push, taking two corner kicks in the first two minutes of the match, cleared out by the Billikens backline.
In the 10th minute, freshman Presley Freeman dribbled up the field and crossed the ball to MacKenzee Vance at the top of the penalty area. With a quick touch to her right foot, Vance fired off a shot to the left corner of the goal, forcing a diving save.
The Billikens followed with a counterattack of their own as they had a breakaway run up top, forcing Hernaez to make a diving save of her own.
With a mistouch by Avery Frischknecht in the back, SLU forward Emily Gaebe gained control of the ball and fired off a shot past Hernaez to take the lead, 1-0 in the 19th minute.
The Cougs immediately pushed back with Addie Gardner taking a shot from 20 yards out, punched over by the keeper. The Cougars earned back-to-back corner kicks after Gardner’s shot, with each being cleared by Billiken defenders.
In the 30th minute, Hernaez had another crucial diving save as the Billikens had a chance off the head of Sarah Sarnowski inside the six-yard box.
The Cougars saw another chance on goal in the 32nd minute as Gardner sent a through ball up the field to sophomore Caroline Stringfellow, who collected and passed to Fryer right in front of the goal, grabbed by SLU's Emily Puricelli.
Despite heading into halftime down 1-0, the Cougars held possession through most of the first half and led in shots, 12-4 and corner kicks, 6-1.
Second Half
The Cougars had their first look on goal in the 48th minute as Halle Dixon beat two players to send a long ball up the field to Fryer, who hit it out of bounds for a goal kick.
In the 68th minute, Stringfellow settled a throw-in and sent a long ball over the top of the Billiken backline to Fryer, who beat two defenders and fired a shot into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
Fryer did not let up as she took on several defenders in the 73rd minute, forcing another tough save by Puricelli.
In the 79th minute, Fryer and Dixon combined inside the six and Fryer took another shot, punched over the top crossbar by Puricelli.
In the final minutes of the match, the Cougars were not able to capitalize on their offensive press, ending the game in a 1-1 draw.
The Cougars continue their road trip on Saturday evening as they take on Long Beach State in California. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. MT.