PROVO— BYU pulled away with two second-half goals to secure a 3-1 win Friday night over Utah Valley at South Field in Provo, Utah.
 
"We played against a really good team and I thought there were spurts that we were awesome but there were also those areas where we can improve," said Coach Lemay. "We had some chances we could've finished and we conceded too many chances. Overall we are going to walk out of here with our heads held high and I think we're getting closer."
 
BYU scored an early goal off of a corner kick in the second minute by Olivia Wade. Utah Valley responded by tightening up its defense to hold the Cougars scoreless the remainder of the half despite giving up 14 shots, including seven on goal. Brooklyn Nielsen kept BYU out of the net the rest of the half with six saves.
 
In the second half, BYU got its second goal from Bella Folino off her own rebound in the 52nd minute and followed that up with a breakaway goal by Elise Flake in the 58th minute. Utah Valley got on the board late with a goal from Whitney Paskins off the cross by Sadie Brockbank. The goal by Paskins was the program's first-ever score against its cross town rival. Utah Valley was out-shot 27 to 12 for the game, including 9-4 on goal.
 
After a difficult non-conference schedule, Utah Valley looks to bounce back as WAC play begins next week. The Wolverines were picked to finish second in the conference in the preseason coaches poll.
 
"The idea was always to play the biggest and the best in the biggest and the best environments to get us prepared for conference play," said Lemay. "The team's chemistry is intact and the spirits are good and we can't wait to go battle against WAC opponents, and we think we are battle-tested having gone through the gauntlet that we've gone through."
 
Utah Valley opens up conference play Sept. 28 at New Mexico State in Las Cruces. The Wolverines will then travel to UTRGV on Sept. 30 and return home to Clyde Field on Oct. 5 for their conference home opener against Chicago State.