Late penalty kick helps Outlaws earn draw

By Dan Rasmussen
Deseret Morning News

OGDEN — Deja vu struck for the Ogden Outlaws Friday.

     This time, however, there was a different outcome.
     When Ogden met rival BYU for the first time in its history a year ago, the Outlaws trailed 1-0 late but had a golden chance to equalize after winning a penalty kick in the final minutes.
     However, the ensuing kick from 12 yards was blasted off the cross bar, and BYU held on for a 1-0 win.
     Ogden (1-3-1) and BYU (4-1-1) renewed their rivalry for the first time in 2007 Friday, and the Outlaws found themselves in the exact same situation. Trailing 1-0, they won a penalty kick with time running out.
     On this occasion, however, history didn't repeat itself.
     Ogden's Matt Broadhead stroked the penalty inside the right post, and Ogden and 10-man BYU finished in a 1-1 draw.
     "I'll take it," said Ogden coach Mike Hickman.
     Friday's critical moment arrived in the third minute of second-half stoppage time. With BYU nursing a 1-0 lead, Ogden sent the ball toward the box. Gilbert Gaertner latched onto it and shot toward goal. BYU's David Clark cleared the ball, but the referee ruled that he used his arm.
     Given the penalty miss of a season ago — and given the fact that several of his teams in various competitions have missed penalties before — Hickman wasn't exactly brimming with confidence when Broadhead approached the spot.

     "I'm never, ever confident on PKs," he said with a smile afterward.
     For his part, BYU coach Chris Waktins blamed the amount of fouls his team had been giving up for playing into the eventual penalty decision.
     "Unfortunately, only bad things happen when you give up that many fouls," he said.
     Following a scrappy first half by both teams, Ogden inserted Bruno Baca into midfield. The move paid dividends as the Outlaws created a number of chances.
     "That's what we wanted to do in the second half — surprise 'em a little bit, and I think it did right away," said Hickman.
     In the 35th minute, BYU pulled ahead 1-0 when Richard Bindrup slotted home a deflected corner kick.
     Like Ogden, BYU played without many of its expected starters. Given the number of young players that found themselves on the field in a BYU uniform, Watkins wasn't horribly disappointed with the result.
     "This is a pretty good effort from a lot of young guys tonight," he said. "But still, we're better than this. We're a lot better than this."

E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com