Seventh-ranked Brigham Young University handed Kansas State their biggest defeat in the program’s three-year history.
Five minutes into the game, BYU junior Cameron Tucker stunned senior goalkeeper Emma Malsy with a shot from 23-yards out, sending the ball to the lower right corner.
Besides Tucker’s solo goal at the half, much of the action came after the forty-fifth minute of the game.
“We were down one to zero at half, which I thought was a positive,” head coach Mike Dibbini told K-State Sports. “Once they scored their second goal, then the wheels kind of fell off, but we kept trying.”
Tucker struck yet again three minutes into the second half. Tucker received the ball on the right side of the goalkeeper box from freshman Jamie Shepard. Once she made contact with the ball she shot to the left to get the ball past Malsy.
With two goals under her name, Tucker wasn’t finished. The junior would go on to finish the game with five attempts and three shots on goal. All three of her shots found the back of the net allowing her to record an impressive hat-trick. Her third and final goal of the night came in the fifty-eighth minute of the game with an assist by senior Lizzy Braby.
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Unfortunately for the Wildcats, BYU was not finished. The Cougars would go on to score two more goals before the final whistle.
In the sixty-ninth minute, senior Ella Ballstaedt would get BYU’s fourth goal of the night with a header off of a corner kick.
BYU’s final goal came in the eighty-fifth minute after being awarded a penalty kick. Freshman Kendell Peterson took the challenge and was able to get the ball passed Malsy.
The Wildcats were only able to record nine shots and only two of those were on target. BYU had 29 shot attempts with 13 of those shots being on target.
Although Dibinni did not get the results he would have hoped for, he had high praise for BYU’s team.
“That was a really good team there,” Dibinni told K-State Sports. “I’ve got to give them credit. They’re undefeated and have only given up one goal for a reason — you saw it right there. But that was a really good team there, probably the best I’ve seen since we started this program.”
The Wildcats will play again on Thursday against defending-Big 12 champions, Baylor. The game starts at 7 p.m. at Buser Family Park.
