Provo, UT - The BYU women's soccer team continued its winning ways Thursday night, kicking off its 1999 home season with a 5-1 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Led by freshman Jeni Willardson, the Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. Willardson led BYU with two goals in the Cougars' first ever meeting against Wisconsin's Panthers.

"(Jeni's) a great attacking forward and a great finisher as well," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "That's rare."

Midfielder Jennie Christianson and forward Jennifer Love also chalked up goals for the Cougars, while senior All-American Maren Hendershot contributed a goal and an assist to the effort.

Junior forward Stefanie Hosni scored the Panthers' lone goal in the second half.

The Cougar defense continued its dominance this season, allowing the Panthers just five shots on goal. In four games, BYU has allowed its opponents just 19 shots on goal. Against the Panthers, BYU recorded 27 shot attempts alone.

"It was a good win for us," Rockwood said. "We didn't play as inspired as I thought we would for our first (home) game. But we're 4-0 and you can't be upset about that."

BYU improved its record to 4-0 this season. The Cougars will next host Cal-Poly Saturday at 7 p.m at BYU's South Field.

BYU 5, UWM 1

BYU - Maren Hendershot, 16:51 (unassisted)

BYU - Jeni Willardson, 30:26 (unassisted)

BYU - Willardson, 43:00 (assist - Staci Reynolds)

BYU - Jennie Christianson, 54:28 (unassisted)

UWM - Stefanie Hosni, 67:02 (unassisted)

BYU - Jennifer Love, 74:11 (assist - Hendershot)

BYU women's soccer team opens home season on Thursday,

Sept. 9 with first-ever meeting against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

With Two Road Wins This Past Weekend, The Cougars Move Up In The Polls To 11th Place.

BYU opens its their home season with three games at South Field, beginning Thursday, Sept. 9 with a first -ever contest against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Kick off is at 5 p.m.

On Saturday night, the Cougars play host to Cal-Poly SLO at 7 p.m., then on Monday , Sept. 13, the University of Arizona makes its first trip to Provo for a 4 p.m., game.

Cougars Move Up In This Week's Regular Season Polls

• In Soccer America Poll - ranked 15th (up five from last week)

• Ranked 11th by the NSCAA - (up three from last week)

Lewis Selected as MWC Player of the Week

Natalyn Lewis, a junior midfielder from Idaho Falls, Idaho was honored as this week's MWC Women's Soccer Player of the Week. Lewis has tallied four goals and one assists so far this season. She scored two goals against Northwestern and one against Montana this ast weekend.

BYU Returning Starters To Watch

• 20 Maren Hendershot - F, Sr (2G, 3A, 7PTS, 7 SH)

• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Jr (2G, 1A, 5PTS, 6 SH)

• 4 Natalyn Lewis - MF, Jr (4G, 1A, 9PTS)

• 11 Sarah Higam - MF, So (3G, 2A, 8PTS, 5SH )

BYU Newcomers To Watch

• 5 Rachelle Dixon - 5-6 MF/F, Fr (Bountiful, UT/Bountiful H.S.)

• 18 Jeni Williardson - 5-9 MF/F, Fr (Murray, UT/Murray H.S.)

Cougar Season Highs To Date

• Most goals in a game (team) - eight against Northwestern on 9/4

• Most shots in game (team) - 28 vs Montana on 9/6

Cougar 1999 Quickie Stats

• Averaging 16.3 shots on goal per game

• Averaging 4.7 goals per game

• Average 3.7 assists per game

BYU vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee Notes

The Panthers return six starters from last year's 10-5-3 team that finished in first place in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championship s.

During the 1998 season, UWM had a 6-0-1 record on the road.

The Panthers come to Provo with a 2-1 record with sophomore midfielder Julie Ruma leading the way with six shots, one goal and one assist. Junior forward Stefanie Hosni is another threat for UWM. She's tallied eight shots, one goal and one assist to date.

Series Against Wisconsin-Milwaukee

This will be the first meeting between the Cougars and Panthers.

BYU vs Cal Poly-SLO Notes

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo returns eight starters to its 1999 team. Toping the list is senior midfielder Michelle George and junior midfielder Katie Kassis. The Mustangs finished the 1998 season with a 9-6-3 record and a third place finish in the Big West. Cal Poly will be making its first trip to Provo on Saturday night.

Series Against Cal-Poly SLO

The series: 1-0. In the teams last contest, the Cougars defeated the Mustangs 3-2 in San Luis Obispo back in 1997.

BYU vs Arizona Notes

The Wildcasts from the University of Arizona come to Provo with a 2-1-0 record after wins against Northern Arizona and New Mexico. Arizona's lone lost of the season was against Arizona State, an 0-4 shutout by ASU. BYU opened its 1999 season at ASU two weeks ago with the Cougars picking up a 3-2 victory.

Arizona returns eight starters from last year's team that finished with 3-12-2 record and a tenth place finish in the Pac-10. The Wildcats top returnee is junior forward Chrissy Sanford who's picked up four goals and one assist on the year. Tiffany Sabado, a sophomore forward is another scoring threat for Arizona. On the season, she's tallied three goals and one assist, including one game-winning goal.

Series Against Arizona

This series is at 1-0 in favor of the Cougars. The last time these two teams met, BYU beat UA 3-2 at the Montana Soccer Showdown in 1996.

Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes

(On the Cougars) I am extremely pleased and proud of the way we played this past weekend. We were moving the ball well and that's definitely a positive for us, and everyone got to play. Our game against Montana was extremely physical and in the first 20 minutes we had lots of opportunities to score. Then when they got their own goal we panicked a little bit, and lost our composure a bit. We need to learn to keep our composure and stay with our style of play and this is something we'll have to learn. I was also happy that we got so many people scoring. The girls are working hard and we're a much better team that way.

(On opponents) The girls are anxious to play at home after two straight weeks of playing on the road. We are anticipating big crowds because the team likes playing at home in front of large crowds. It will be tough for us to play three games in five days. We need everyone to be ready. Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be a tough game for us. They are ranked 7th in their region. We will also have a huge challenge on Saturday against Cal-Poly. They always have a real solid team. Monday's game will also be tough. We just need to be ready to play and hope that everyone stays healthy after games on Thursday and Saturday.

Up Next for the Cougars

Afther the three home games this weekend., BYU is back on the road with games in California against Southern California and Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 17 and 18.