PALO ALTO, Calif. -- A pair of first-half goals gave the No. 8 BYU women's soccer team a 2-0 win over UC Santa Barbara in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer College Cup on Thursday.

"It was a real team effort out there and I'm very proud of the girls," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We saw a lot of good action from our bench. Everybody stepped up and played their hardest."

BYU's first goal came just 12 minutes into the game after freshman Carlee Payne took the ball down the field past two Gaucho defenders. Payne's sliding touch of the ball deflected off one of the Gaucho defenders and rolled past the line for a goal.

The Cougars maintained offensive pressure for the majority of the game. Freshman Jessica Ringwood took the first shot for BYU with a chip that went just inches from the right post, forcing the Gaucho goalie to make her first save of many against an attacking Cougar offense.

Senior Alyssa Vander Veur recorded her third goal of the season after a pass from sophomore Jennie Marshall got the ball to Vander Veur at the top of the box. Vander Veur sent a bullet straight past three defenders and the Gaucho goalie to put the Cougars up 2-0 going into the half.

Marshall led the team with five shots on goal and proved to be BYU's playmaker. Within minutes of Marshall entering the game, she'd taken a ball up the line and record two or three shots on goal.

Junior defender Nicole Urry-Gilliam also helped give the Cougars their 13th team shutout with her 45 minutes of tough play.

Cougar sophomore goalie McKinzie Olson made a leaping save towards the end of the half, the first of many beautiful saves from a goalie who has only allowed 11 goals all season. Olson recorded her 12th shutout win of the season, a career high.

In the second half with an end to their season looming, the Gauchos made several attempts at goal but weren't able to get the ball down past the Cougars' defensive line.

The Cougars advance to the second round of the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer College Cup, where they will take on the winner of the match between top-seed Stanford vs. Northern Arizona. The second-round match kicks off Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.

• BYU volleyball: At Provo, after a close five-set match at Wyoming on Oct. 17 in their previous matchup, the BYU women's volleyball team came out strong at the Smith Fieldhouse, downing the Cowgirls (12-17, 2-12 MWC) 25-21, 25-20, 25-19.

"We were patient and kept chipping away at them," BYU head coach Shay Goulding said. "Kiana [Rogers] has been doing better and better and she was a key player in getting a variety of our players a number of swings."

Senior rightside hitter Kayla Walker led the Cougars (13-12, 7-6 MWC) with 10 kills on the night, with Christina Measom and Nicole Warner each tallying nine kills. Warner hit .692 percent while Morgan Lloyd Sorensen and Melissa Lake Wright had 11 and 10 digs, respectively.

The Cougars will now face Colorado State in their last home game of the season Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

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