PROVO, Utah – BYU women's soccer outshot Louisiana State University but came up a goal short in a 4-3 loss on Thursday night on South Field.

“I thought we made a step forward for sure,” BYU soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “Obviously, it’s difficult to lose, but we try to take the positives and we played pretty good soccer tonight. We gave up four goals, which we should never do, but overall I think we made a step in the right direction.”

The Cougars (1-3-2) outshot the Tigers (4-2-1) 16-11 with Ashley Hatch leading the way with five shots, scoring one and putting three on goal. Michele Murphy added four shots with two on goal. Marissa Nimmer and freshman Nadia Gomes each finished with a goal.

Murphy started the game with a shot at the goal in the second minute that went just over the crossbar and another in the 20th minute that went into the hands of the LSU goalie.

In the 22nd minute, LSU scored the first goal of the game, but was followed by a goal by Nimmer on an assist by Elena Medeiros in the 23rd minute to tie it back at 1-1.

Elisabeth Phillips had a shot on goal in the 35th minute, but was saved by the keeper. The Tigers scored their second goal in the 38th minute that went out of Katherine Snyder’s reach to take the 2-1 lead at halftime. Despite being down at the half, BYU outshot LSU 9-6.

Ten minutes into the second half, Stephanie Ringwood had a chance to tie it but shot wide. LSU had three chances on corner kicks, but two were saved by freshman goalie Hannah Clark, who started in the second half, and the third bounced off the post. 

BYU’s second goal came in the 62nd minute when Niki Fernandes passed to the corner of the box to Hatch who dribbled past a couple defenders and shot to the right side of goal. Two minutes later, LSU answered back on a penalty kick and another goal in the 79th minute to take a 4-2 lead.

Gomes cut LSU’s lead to 4-3 on a goal that hit the bottom left post and bounced in during the 85th minute. Clark followed it up with a great save in the same minute to keep the deficit at one, but the Cougars couldn't find another goal.

“We have to keep working hard,” Rockwood said. “I think we changed a lot of things that we’ve done in the last couple games. Phillips and Nimmer were very good, so I was really proud of our midfield tonight compared to our game in Utah – it was night and day.”

The Cougars stay on South Field to play Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio on Sirius XM channel 143. The Cougar IMG Sports Network will broadcast the game live on BYUcougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's soccer begins a four-game homestand this Thursday as the Cougars face LSU before playing Long Beach State on Saturday at South Field.

The LSU game will kick off at 6 p.m. MDT on Thursday and will be broadcast on TheW.tv. Saturday's game against Long Beach State kicks off at 7 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. The Cougar IMG Sports Network will carry the game on BYUcougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.

BYU (1-2-2) fell to Utah 1-0 on Friday in Salt Lake City to suffer its second-straight defeat. The Tigers played Stephen F. Austin to a scoreless draw despite taking 26 shots on Monday night after losing to TCU 2-0 on Friday.

Last year, BYU beat LSU 4-2 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Labor Day. Colette Jepson Smith, Ashley Hatch, Rachel Manning and Paige Hunt each scored a goal as the Cougars scored three goals after being down 2-1 in the 33rd minute.

So far this season, LSU has four players who have scored multiple goals: Summer Clarke, Jorian Baucom, Natalia Gomez-Junco and Lexi Gibbs. Plus, the Tigers have four players who have assisted on multiple goals: Clarke, Gomez-Junco, Fernanda Pina and Christyna Pitre. The majority of LSU's goals have come in the first half where they have outscored opponents 7-1.

Long Beach State (3-1-2) beat Cal State Bakersfield 2-0 on Sunday and won't play again until Saturday's contest against BYU. The 49ers have yet to leave southern California this season and wrapped up a four-game homestand of their own with a 3-0-1 record against Georgia, Denver, San Diego and Bakersfield. So far this season, freshman Ashley Gonzales is tied for the team lead in goals and assists with two.

The 49ers beat BYU in Long Beach last season 1-0 as Big West Freshman of the Year Mimi Rangel scored in the 14th minute.