Vasconcelos does it all in soggy 4-0 win at Saint Mary's

MORAGA, Calif. – No. 5 BYU used a goal and two assists from Michele Vasconcelos in a 4-0 win against Saint Mary's at Saint Mary's Stadium Thursday afternoon.

"It was a really solid day," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "We came out and put the pressure on from the beginning. It was a complete game for us, and it's fun to watch when we put it all together."

BYU vs. Saint Mary's Box Score

Vasconcelos' performance marked the third game in a row she's had at least one goal and one assist.

Ashley Hatch, who is returning from the U.S. Women's National Team after missing two games with the Cougars, made her presence felt quickly with an early goal.

Jocelyn Loomis scored her first career goal at BYU in the waning minutes.

Hannah Clark and Rachel Boaz combined for a shutout in goal for BYU, the 10th of the year for Rockwood's team.

With the win, the Cougars improved to 14-2-1 (5-1-1 West Coast Conference), as the Gaels fell to 3-13-2 (1-6-0).

Hatch turned a great effort into the game's first goal in the 21st minute. She turned past a defender on the end line left of the goal, took a couple of dribbles and ripped a shot toward the far post that Gael goalkeeper Julia McDonald touched but couldn't keep from going into the net.

The game's first scoring strike was Hatch's 16th goal on the season, and the 44th of her career. Vasconcelos, who originally sent Hatch down to the end line with a pass, was credited with the assist as BYU took a 1-0 lead.

Just three minutes later, Vasconcelos earned another assist, as she crossed a pass in from the right side, that Elena Medeiros touched just in front of McDonald. It bounced to her right and in the goal to put the Cougars up 2-0.

For Medeiros, it was her fifth goal on the season and the 19th of her career.

The rain started to fall halfway through the first half and had picked up in strength as BYU took its two-goal advantage into the half.

After holding Saint Mary's scoreless in the first half, Clark was replaced in goal by Boaz for the Cougars.

In the 57th minute, Hatch drove a pass down the left side of the field for Nadia Gomes. Gomes took it close to the end line, and crossed it to Vasconcelos, who used one touch from point blank range to punch the ball in for a 3-0 BYU lead.

It gave Vasconcelos her 11th goal of the year and 28th of her career, while Gomes reached 10 assists in 2016.

In the 87th minute, Madie Lyons sent a corner kick in that was batted around by a few players from both teams before Loomis booted it in to put the Cougars up 4-0.

That goal concluded the scoring, as Boaz and the BYU defense closed out the clean sheet.

The Cougars had 19 players appear in the win.

BYU stays in California to play Pacific in Stockton on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PDT. Audio of that game can be heard on the Cougar IMG Network, BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143) and ESPN 960 AM. A video stream can be viewed at TheW.tv.