Wonders beat BYU

Break up the Nevada Wonders.

After struggling all season long offensively, the Wonders turned into an offensive machine to pick up its first win of the year, a 3-0 rout of the BYU Cougars on Friday night in front of 230 fans at Carson High.

The Wonders' offensive pressure never let up from start to finish as they could have easily scored twice as many goals as they did with just a little better execution. That's saying something for a team that exceeded it's goal total for the entire season in one night with three. The Wonders had scored just two goals in its first seven games.

In the process, the Wonders also moved out of the cellar and ahead of BYU in the Premier Development League's Southwest Division. The Wonders (1-6-1) have four points, placing them ahead of last place BYU (1-6), who has three points.

"It feels great of course," said Carson High's Kirkwood Harris about the win. Harris combined with Chris Blackburn to lead the attack.

"We've been working pretty hard in practice," Harris said. "It's about time. It boosts our confidence for the next one."

The next one is at 2 p.m. Saturday against the Fresno Fuego (8-1), who are in first place. The Fuego have beaten the Wonders twice this season.

"We've seen Fresno twice and we know we can play with them," Harris said. "We know it will be a tough game, but we should be able to handle it."

Blackburn began the pressure when his shot from the left side just missed wide right in the first five minutes. Ten minutes later, Blackburn centered the ball to Bernerd Morley, who scored. Blackburn also had two other excellent chances stopped by BYU's goalie.

During injury time near the end of the first half, goalie Sebastian Rowe sent a long pass down the field that was pushed forward by Blackburn to Harris, who beat BYU's defense and goalie to give the Wonders a 2-0 halftime lead.

"Chris flicked it like he was doing all game," Harris said. "The keeper was out and I put it in the goal."

Harris returned the favor to Blackburn as Harris headed the ball to Blackburn, who put it in the net.

"It just felt good to finally give him one," Harris said. "We finally got in sync and did what we've been doing in practice."

Harris also had another goal when he rocketed a shot that went off the goalie's hands and the crossbar.

With the support of the play like defender Sean Nealis, Rowe was able to post the shutout, finishing with eight saves.