LAIE, HAWAII – For the only time in the regular season, the Dixie State Red Storm and the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders soccer teams had a chance to battle for Pacific West Conference supremacy. The conference leaders did not disappoint Tuesday on Oahu's North Shore. After ninety minutes of hard-fought and competitive soccer, Dixie State held off BYU-Hawaii 1-0 to take a six-point lead in the Pac West standings.
Dixie State (9-3, 8-0 Pac West) was outshot 15-14 in the match, but got the game-winner in the 56
th minute when
Carly Haycock (Bountiful. UT/Bountiful HS '06) headed in a shot off a crossing kick from Camille Peterson set up by
Shannon Larsen (Salt Lake City. UT/Skyline HS '06). DSC got great performances in goal from Abby Monroe – who faced 5 shots in the first half – and
Tonya Smith (Eagle Mountain. UT/Lehi) – recorded three saves in the second half.
BYU-Hawaii (9-3, 6-2) seemed poised to tie the match and force extra time when Margaret Sekona saw only Smith in front of her and the goal. The 88th minute shot was stopped on a great save by Smith to keep the Seasiders off the board.
Becky Ploeger made seven saves in goal for BYU-Hawaii including stopping four shots within a two minute span late in the second half stalling Dixie State from scoring an insurance tally.
The Red Storm, currently 2-0 on their four-match Hawaiian trip, returns to action on Thursday against Hawaii Pacific University. Kickoff in Honolulu is at 1:30pm Hawaiian.
