PROVO -- A hat trick by Sara Reading and a new team record for shots in a game were more than enough to give the BYU women's soccer team a 4-0 win over New Mexico Friday night.

Reading, a junior, was on fire for the Cougars, scoring a pair of goals just over a minute apart in the first half before adding a third midway through the second half.

"Sara has struggled a little bit to score. This was a good breakthrough and confidence builder for her," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said.

Kim Lowe also converted for the Cougars in the second half off a pass from Jennifer Love. BYU posted an all-time high 40 shots in the victory while holding the Lobos to just five chances.

"We played very well tonight. We struggled last weekend, and it was important for us to come back tonight sharp," Rockwood said.

The Cougars won their fifth shutout of the year without All-American Maren Hendershot, out with an injured quad muscle. Standout freshman Jeni Williardson got the start, and chipped in an assist on Reading's first goal. Hendershot is questionable for tomorrow's game against Utah.

"We're hopeful (she'll play)," Rockwood said. "We'll try it out and see if she can go, and if not we've got players who can pick it up."

With the win, BYU started out its conference record 1-0. The Cougars will face conference opponents in each of their next six games, beginning Saturday when they host in-state rival the University of Utah at 8 p.m.

"It doesn't matter what our record is up until this point," Rockwood said. "The next six games are very important. Our main goal is to win the championship in the new conference. Utah will be a big game for us, as it always is."

The Cougars improved its season record to 12-2 with the win, while the Lobos dropped to 5-8-1.

BYU 4, New Mexico 0
BYU - Sara Reading, 10:31 (assisted by Jeni Williardson and Natalyn Lewis)
BYU - Sara Reading, 11:49 (assisted by Karen Wunderli)
BYU - Kim Lowe, 55:12 (assisted by Jennifer Love)
BYU - Sara Reading, 73:34 (unassisted)

The inaugural season for the Mountain West Conference women's soccer programs begins this week at BYU with the Cougars hosting New Mexico, Friday, Oct. 8 and Utah, Saturday, Oct. 9

Cougars In This Week's Polls

• In Soccer America Poll - ranked 9th

• Ranked 9th by the NSCAA

BYU Returning Starters To Watch

• 20 Maren Hendershot - F, Sr (7G, 8A, 22PTS, 47SH)

• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Jr (6G, 3A, 15PTS, 27SH)

• 4 Natalyn Lewis - MF, Jr (4G, 3A, 11PTS, 20SH)

• 11 Sarah Higham - MF, So (6G, 7A,19PTS, 26SH )

• 14 Karen Wunderli- MF, Sr (2G, 4A,8PTS, 23SH )

BYU Newcomers To Watch

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

• 18 Jeni Willardson - 5-9 MF/F, Fr (4G, 1A, 9PTS, 17SH)

Cougar Season Highs To Date

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

• Most shots in game (team) - 39 vs University of Arizona on 9/13

• Most corner kicks in a game (team) - eight vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee 9/9

Cougar '99 Quickie Stats After 13 Games

• Averaging 23.0 shots on goal per game

• Averaging 3.2 goals per game

• Average 2.8 assists per game

BYU vs New Mexico Notes

The Lobos come to Provo with a 5-6-1 record. Nine starters return from last year's 4-13-2 season.

New Mexico plays Utah in MWC action on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

Series Against New Mexico

The series: 3-1-1. In the last meeting between BYU and UNM, the Cougars defeated the Lobos 4-1 in Provo on 9/18/98.

BYU vs Utah Notes

Utah visits South Field this Saturday night with a 7-4 record and wins against common Cougar opponents Montana, Washington, and Weber State. Eight starters are back from last year's 12-7 team.

Leading the Ute effort is sophomore Amy Kofoed with nine goals for her 18 points off of 55 shots. Also in double points is senior Staci Burt who's tallied four goals and three assists for her 11 points. Utah is averaging 18.9 shots per game and 1.9 goals.

Series Against Utah

The series record: 5-0 in favor of the Cougars. Last year, the two teams met in Salt Lake City with BYU picking up a 2-1 victory.

Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes

(On the Cougars) This was not the best road weekend for us because we couldn't pick up both wins at the Harvard Tournament. We didn't play to our potential and the weather conditions were not ideal for our style of play. Now we just have to regroup and get ready for our conference schedule. It will help that we are at home and it will give the girls an opportunity to recover and regroup. We know we're capable of playing much better and we have to get back to that point the rest of this season.

(On opponents) New Mexico and Utah are both strong teams with very good and experienced players. They will come in here and give us tough games because we beat them last season. Utah always plays us extremely tough on our home field or in Salt Lake. I know the girls are excited to play Utah because it's always a great game and both teams will really battle for the entire 90 minutes.

BYU Media Information

At home, the Cougars practice daily from 2 to 5 p.m. Player and/or coach Rockwood interviews may be done in advance by contacting Norma Collett at 801-378-4908 or via e-mail at norma_collett@byu.edu There are no player interviews 24 hours prior to games.

Up Next For The Cougars

BYU continues Mountain West Conference play on the road with games against UNLV and San Diego State on October 14 and 16.