No. 15 BYU's streak ends with 3-2 loss at No. 12 Pepperdine

MALIBU, Calif. -- Three Pepperdine goals ended No. 15 BYU's 13-game unbeaten streak on Saturday as the Cougars fell 3-2 on Saturday.

The No. 12 Waves (15-2-3, 6-1-2) scored three goals in a 20-minute span after BYU (13-4-3, 7-1-1) struck first on the road.

"It's tough when you play a great team on the road," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "The second half we played phenomenal. We got one in and probably should have put more in." 

In the 19th minute, Marissa Nimmer won a header which Niki Fernandes flicked on to Ashley Hatch running into the box. Hatch stepped past the keeper and into two Pepperdine defenders who stopped the ball, but Hatch beat them to the next touch and poked it into the goal for a 1-0 lead and her 18th goal of the season.

Pepperdine equalized in the 32nd minute off a Lynn Williams cross to the near post that found Amanda Lecave's head in the box. Lecave directed the ball to the far post and past BYU keeper Katherine Snyder.

The Waves took the lead in the 43rd minute on a two-on-two break. BYU's attempted clearance of a pass didn't get out of the box and Colby Carson pounced on it to make it 2-1.

Pepperdine added its third goal on an assist from Williams into the box. Ally Holtz pushed it past Snyder with the outside of her foot for the 3-1 advantage in the 50th minute.

"We only gave up five shots and Pepperdine made them count with three good goals," Rockwood said. "There are some good lessons we learned today that will propel us into next weekend. We battled hard and were very dominant in the second half. Everyone felt like it was going to fall for us and we were going to force overtime."

Ten minutes later, Fernandes scored off a through ball from Murphy in the 60th minute to cut the lead to 3-2. Fernandes and Murphy each hit the crossbar from the top of the box in the next five minutes in an attempt to knot the game up. Nimmer had an open look at goal in the 70th minute, but a diving save by Seabert pushed it just wide for a corner kick.

The Cougars finished with 29 shots to Pepperdine's five with both teams earning four corners. Entering this week BYU had an RPI of 45 and Pepperdine sat at 13. The only real drama aside from the win or loss on Saturday was where BYU would finish when it came time to determine home matches and seeding in the NCAA tournament which begins next weekend.

The NCAA selection show will be streamed live on NCAA.com on Monday at 2:30 p.m. MT.