Lefty Lucy: Freshman's first collegiate goal guides BYU by Houston in home finale

PROVO — Whenever Lucy Kesler drives to campus at BYU for class, her license plate reads "lefty" as a nod to her preferred left foot.

The freshman midfielder showed why Monday night.

Kesler scored her first collegiate goal with that preferred left foot, and Addie Gardner had two assists as BYU rolled to a 3-0 win over Houston in front of an announced crowd of 3,470 fans at South Field.

Leading scorer Allie Fryer and Avery Frischknecht also scored for BYU (7-5-5, 5-2-3 Big 12), the third goal of the season for the center back.

In the first-ever meeting between the two Cougars rated No. 42 and No. 129 in the NCAA's RPI, BYU's youth put on a show on a night dedicated to sending off the three seniors of Tara Warner, Savannah Hansen and Lytiana Akinaka.

"I'm proud of the way the girls played," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "We've had some ups and downs this season, for sure. We didn't do what we needed to do in our last game, so it was great to go off on South Field with a complete 90 (minutes) and a great result for us."

Just four days after scoring a late brace in a 3-3 draw with Baylor, Fryer gave the host Cougars the early lead just 14 minutes in with BYU's fifth shot. The junior from Maple Mountain stopped a pass into the box from Gardner with her left foot, pivoted to her right foot, and put in her team-high ninth goal of the season past Houston goalkeeper Maggie Manning for the early advantage.

"Addie has been getting better with each game and growing with confidence," Rockwood said of Gardner, who doubled her goal contributions on the season Monday night. "You could just see a little bit more spark from her, which is what we're going to need going into our last game and into the Big 12 tournament. It's very encouraging, and very exciting to see her playing with a bit more confidence, wanting to get more forward and get into the box."

Gardner wasn't done, either.

The sophomore forward from American Fork found an open Kesler at the top of the box, and the freshman spun off her defender, stepped back for emphasis, and ripped a left-footed laser to double BYU's advantage in the 32nd minute.

Kesler had several celebrations in mind for her first collegiate goal, but when it came down to it, she opted for all of them — or at least three: one for her teammates on the field, one for the players on the bench, and another directed at her family in the crowd that included several extended relatives from Idaho.

"I had been working for it; I really wanted to score the past three games," said Kesler, who would have been finishing her senior season at American Fork before reclassifying in the spring. "I kind of hit it, and knew it was going in. That's when I got super excited."

The hosts out-shot the visiting Cougars 15-6 in the first half, including 10 shots on goal while Rockwood rotated all two of her three departing seniors — neither of whom have started this year — for extended minutes.

Frischknecht scored her third goal of the season, another header in the 52nd minute off a corner kick from Sierra Pennock to stretch BYU's lead to 3-0 to open the second half.

With 29 shots and 16 shots on target, BYU nearly had a fourth goal, too. But Caroline Stringfellow's rip from the center of the box with 10 minutes remaining was called back for an offside violation.

Lynette Hernaez made five saves en route to a clean sheet, when she was pulled for backup goalkeeper Kelsey Hoopes in the 76th minute.

Manning made a career-high 13 saves for Houston (4-11-1, 1-9 Big 12), which landed five of its eight shots on frame.

"We've had our highs and our lows," Kesler said. "But to be able to do this for our seniors, and for little me who dreamed of scoring on South Field, tonight was super special."

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