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Provo • There was a mild scare in the first half when leading scorer Ashley Hatch bumped knees and momentarily crumpled to the crowd, but other than that, BYU's No. 8-ranked women's soccer team continued to roll Thursday night at South Field.
Hatch scored the match's only goal in the 13th minute, the 26th of her brilliant career, and the Cougars made it hold up in a 1-0 victory over previously undefeated Oregon State in front of 3,449 fans.
"Paige [Hunt] just had a nice ball in and I headed it down, and just had to finish it for her," Hatch said.
As for her right knee, which was wrapped in ice after the match, Hatch said it will be OK. She left the match in the 19th minute and sat out the remainder of the first half, but played most of the second half.
"It was a knee-to-knee thing," said BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood. "She's OK. She's pretty resilient."
The Cougars improved to 7-1 and picked up their 12th-straight home win dating to last season, the fourth-longest such streak in the country. Oregon State, which did not win a match last year in 20 attempts, fell to 4-1-2.
"I just thought we played a really great game," Rockwood said. "We came out strong at the very beginning and got a goal early, which is what we really pushed for."
Rockwood said she asked her team to get more wide in the second half to spread OSU's defense out.
"They did it. I thought we were able to get in behind and get to the corners," Rockwood said. "Obviously, we would have loved to have scored another goal, but at the same time, I thought it was a really good performance by everyone on the team."
BYU goalkeeper Rachel Boaz was barely tested until the final five minutes or so. She had to work a little bit then as OSU turned up the pressure late.
"I think maybe we got a little too comfortable," Hatch said. "We have to keep playing hard to the end. Besides that, we did pretty well."
Rockwood said forward Michele Murphy Vasconcelos played her best game of the year and got consistent help from Nadia Gomes.
"Very solid, very dangerous," Rockwood said of the junior from Alta High. Defender Taylor Campbell Isom was also solid in sweeping away the Beavers' scoring threats.
The Cougars got off 26 shots, but only six were on frame. Not to worry, Rockwood said.
"We are getting some good looks, and everybody knows we got to put the ball on frame," she said. "We will just keep going and maybe we will save them for later when we really need them."
BYU travels to Cal Poly and Long Beach State for games next week before beginning WCC play on Oct. 1 at Gonzaga.
Twitter: @drewjay BYU 1, Oregon State 0
• Ashley Hatch scored the match's only goal in the 13th minute and Rachel Boaz picked up the shutout for the Cougars.
• Hatch went out after bumping knees with an OSU defender in the first half, but returned in the second half.
• The Cougars improved to 7-1 in front of a crowd of 3,449 at South Field.