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PROVO -- With solid play from the defense, BYU soccer stays perfect at home with the fourth win in history over Michigan State at South Field Friday night bringing their overall record to 6-4.

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“I was really pleased with their performance against a strong team,” head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “Our back four did a great job at stopping their offense. The results we’re experiencing are building confidence in the team.”

BYU’s two goals on the night were from junior starting defender Andrea Willis and freshman forward Jennie Marshall. Marshall came off the bench to seal the win late in the second half.

The Cougars had 16 total shots on goal, compared to the ten posted by the Spartans.

Before Friday, Michigan State had only given up three goals all season; BYU adds two to that number.

Although Michigan started the first half with the ball, BYU quickly gained possession, dominating the game by keeping the ball on the Spartan half for the first 15 minutes.

After many crossbar shots and corner kicks, the Cougars were able to get two in the back of the net early in the first half, but weren’t counted because of offsides calls.

The Cougars have not had an offsides call after a made goal this season, yet they posted two in the first half. The first attempt was set up by a corner kick blasted to the 18-yard line where BYU dropped the ball in the middle of the box for an offsides header hitting the net by Kassidy Christensen.

Again in the 12th minute freshman Auna Janis took a shot on goal, catching the crossbar for a missed shot. Freshman Lauren Anderson had three shots the first half with one taking a sliding save by Spartan goalkeeper Lindey Wrege.

But Michigan wasn’t making it easy for BYU. The Spartan’s first corner kick headed past defenders into the hands of freshman keeper McKinzie Olson to start their attack on the Cougars.

In the 26th minute sophomore Kassidy Christensen broke through two defenders to get another shot off to crash the crossbar one more time.

The crowd went wild as junior Kelsea Kakadelas made it through two defenders causing a foul on Michigan State outside the 25-yard line. Kakadelas then tapped the ball to Andrea Willis who made the ball soar over the wall of defenders into the top left corner of the goal, giving BYU its first score on the night.

Laura Heyboer of Michigan broke through three defenders to shoot the ball over the top of the goal, giving BYU another scare.

The Cougars and the Spartans finished the half with slide tackle after slide tackle, heading into the locker rooms with a 1-0 BYU lead.

Early in the second half, Willis had another penalty kick outside the 30-yard line, but this time went high and long, causing the Cougars to continue scoreless in the second half.

With the rain starting to fall the Cougars moved down the field with good passing to produce shot after shot deflected by the Spartan defense to come out of the box without a score again.

While Michigan dominated the field with 26 minutes left in the game, it was cut short as the moved up the field one more time to produce another corner kick to get lost in the Spartan defense.

But after a red card on BYU’s Jessica Carter with 20 minutes to go, the Cougars turned it on with only 10 players on the field for the rest of the game. Freshman Jennie Marshall kicked her own ball over the defenders leaving her and the goalie alone on the field where she sent the ball skidding on the ground into the bottom right corner, giving BYU their second goal of the game, leading Michigan State 2-0.

With play back and forth and the Cougars down a player, BYU held off the Spartans to win it 2-0.

“We’re trying new things and they’re working out,” Rockwood said.

Michigan State was undefeated coming into the game, but now their record stands at 8-0

BYU heads back on the road to face Cal Berkeley on Sept. 25 at 4:00 p.m. PST.

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                           Soccer Box Score (Final)
      Michigan State vs Brigham Young Univ. (Sep 19, 2008 at Provo, Utah)
Michigan State (7-1-0) vs.                                  Goals by period       1  2  Tot
Brigham Young Univ. (6-4-0)                                 -------------------------------
Date: Sep 19, 2008  Attendance: 2279                        Michigan State......  0  0 -  0
Weather: 70's overcast                                      Brigham Young Univ..  1  1 -  2
Michigan State                                          Brigham Young Univ.
Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A               Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A
------------------------------------------              ------------------------------------------
GK  0  WREGE, Lindey.......   -   -  -  -               GK  32 OLSON, McKinzie.....   -   -  -  -
D   1  CHAKLOS, Katelin....   -   -  -  -               F   3  ANDERSON, Lauren....   2   1  -  -
MF  3  SINACOLA, Lauren....   2   1  -  -               D   4  COOK, Karen.........   1   -  -  -
F   9  HILL, Lauren........   2   1  -  -               MF  5  FELLER, Whitney.....   1   -  -  -
D   10 BROWN, Megan........   1   1  -  -               D   9  DRAEGER, Amanda.....   -   -  -  -
F   11 HEYBOER, Laura......   2   -  -  -               D   10 CARTER, Jessica.....   -   -  -  -
MF  14 FREEMAN, Cara.......   2   -  -  -               D/M 11 WILLIS, Andrea......   2   1  1  -
MF  15 TAIT, Kelsey........   -   -  -  -               MF/ 15 KAKADELAS, Kelsea...   2   1  -  1
D   18 AMORMINO, Kelley....   -   -  -  -               MF  16 JANIS, Auna.........   2   2  -  -
D   22 SHEGOS, Courtney....   -   -  -  -               F/M 18 LARKIN, Katie.......   1   -  -  -
M   23 TIMAR, Kristi.......   1   1  -  -               F/M 21 CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy   3   1  -  1
     ---------- Substitutes ----------                       ---------- Substitutes ----------
    4  STERN, Sarah........   -   -  -  -                   6  RICHARDSON, Megan...   -   -  -  -
    6  PINES, Megan........   -   -  -  -                   7  MARSHALL, Jennie....   1   1  1  -
       Totals..............  10   4  0  0                   12 RIDDLE, Becca.......   1   -  -  -
                                                            14 JAMESON, Ashleigh...   -   -  -  -
                                                            20 DOW-JACKSON, Kristi.   -   -  -  -
                                                            22 HODGKISS, Katie.....   -   -  -  -
                                                            23 VANDER Veur, Alyssa.   -   -  -  -
                                                            25 URRY, Nicole........   -   -  -  -
                                                               Totals..............  16   7  2  2
Michigan State                                          Brigham Young Univ.
## Player                 MIN  GA Saves                 ## Player                 MIN  GA Saves
---------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------
0  WREGE, Lindey.......  90:00  2     4                 32 OLSON, McKinzie.....  90:00  0     3
TM TM..................   0:00  0     1                 TM TEAM................   0:00  0     1
Shots by period       1  2  Tot                         Saves by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
Michigan State......  6  4 - 10                         Michigan State......  3  2 -  5
Brigham Young Univ.. 10  6 - 16                         Brigham Young Univ..  3  1 -  4
Corner kicks          1  2  Tot                         Fouls                 1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
Michigan State......  4  0 -  4                         Michigan State......  3  4 -  7
Brigham Young Univ..  3  3 -  6                         Brigham Young Univ..  1  6 -  7
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                                  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   30:36 BYU      WILLIS, Andrea (1)       CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy
 2.   73:14 BYU      MARSHALL, Jennie (2)     KAKADELAS, Kelsea                        one v one keeper
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
RC-BYU #10 (70:21)
Officials: Referee: Hamed Sadeghi; Asst. Referee: Norm Williamson; Pat Tominey;
Alt. Official: Dick Fredman; Timekeeper: Jerry Freestone; Scorer: Kathy Jensen;
Offsides: Michigan State 1, Brigham Young Univ. 2.

PROVO -- Fresh off a 2-0 victory over Idaho State at South Field that extended the team's home-field winning streak to three games in 2008, the Cougars head back east to face the undefeated Miami Hurricane before returning home to take on Michigan State.

The University of Miami is 7-0 this season, including victories over Memphis and Purdue. Most recently, the team beat Eastern Michigan 1-0 at Coral Gables. Sophomore forward Brittney Steinbruch leads the team with eight goals. Hurricane goalkeeper freshman Vikki Alonzo has allowed only one goal so far this season. The game will kick off at 7:00 p.m. Fans can follow along with the live stat feed available at byucougars.com.

Michigan State is also undefeated and has allowed only two goals this season. The 7-0 Spartans are led by freshman forward Laura Heyboer, who has scored eight goals and five assists, and leads the team in both categories. The team in 3-0 on the road. The last time BYU played the Spartans was Aug. 31, 2007. BYU won 1-0 in overtime. The Michigan State game will begin at 7:00, and will be broadcast live on BYUTV and KBYU.

Fans attending the Michigan State game at South Field are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy live music from the football tailgate band Funkalicious, pre-game trivia contests with prizes, and two pairs of tickets to the BYU-Wyoming football game will be given away at halftime. BYUSA and Cougar United will provide free hotdogs to all students with ID.

Fans can join the official BYU Women’s Soccer Texting group by texting the word “WSOC” to 83043. Members of the group will get updates about game times and special promotions.