PROVO, Utah (Oct. 4, 2008) -- Despite cold and rainy conditions, the Cougars found the back of the net five times in the first half enroute to a 5-0 victory over Utah in the first conference action for both teams, with five of the goals coming in the first half.

"We knew that we were going to have to come out very strong against a good Utah team, and we did," said head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We were able to have some success, and the girls played very well."

The Cougars tallied three goals in the first eighteen minutes of the game. Senior All-American forward Katie Larkin slid the ball past the Ute keeper for the first goal of the game. Just three minutes later, Larkin again scored on a penalty kick after Kassidy Christensen was knocked down in the box chasing after the ball. Larkin is 3-3 in penalty kicks this season.

Five minutes later, midfielder Kelesa Kakadelas fed the ball to freshman Lauren Anderson who launched a long shot that made it past the keeper. The goal was Anderson's second of the season. At the 34 minute mark, sophomore forward Becca Riddle caged a rebound after forward Alyssa Vander Veur's shot was blocked and knocked it in for the fourth goal of the first half.

Anderson would pick up her team-leading sixth assist of the season when she passed the ball to senior forward Katie Fellows Hodgkiss who fought through a crowd of players in the box and scored. Utah came out strong in the second half, and kept the pressure on consistently, but sophomore keeper Aleena Shelton was solid in goal, notching five saves and held the Utes scoreless. Freshman keeper McKinzie Olson started the game and had four saves before leaving the game at halftime.

"This was a big win for us," said Rockwood. "We're glad to start off conference play with a win. It's a long season, but we're looking forward to the next game."

With the win, BYU improves to 8-5-0 (1-0 MWC) and wins the soccer portion of the Deseret First Duel. BYU also wins six points towards the overall school competition. The game was the first time BYU had scored five goals in a game since a 5-0 win against Utah State on Sept. 5, 2005. BYU will next be in action Thursday, Oct. 9, at 7:00 p.m., when they take on MWC foe UNLV at South Field. A live stat feed will be available for the game at www.byucougars.com/soccer_w/. The Cougars will then face San Diego State at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, at South Field.

PROVO -- The Cougars make two in-state road trips this week when they face the Utah State Aggies on Thurs., Oct. 2 at 4:00 p.m. in Logan, Utah, and the Utah Utes on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 in Salt Lake City.

BYU has recorded a 6-5-0 record so far during 2008, and is led by senior All-American forward Katie Larkin. She has scored four goals this season, and has one assist. Freshman Lauren Anderson leads the team with five assists. Eight different Cougars have scored this season. The team is out shooting its opponents 143-132. Freshman keeper McKinzie Olson has started the last started the last four games in goal and has a 1.06 goals-against-average on the season.

The Aggies have notched a 5-6-1 record so far in the 2008 campaign. They lost last week to Cal Poly, 1-0, and beat MWC member Wyoming 2-1. The team is led by sophomore forward Lauren Hansen, who has scored four goals on the season, and junior forward Lauren Salmon who has three goals. The Aggies have been outscored this season by only one point, 13-14. Senior keeper Ali Griffin is the team’s leader in goal, playing in 11 games and recording a 1.25 goals-against-average.

The Utah State game is the last non-MWC game the Cougars will play until they host Weber State at South Field on Oct. 28.

The game with Utah marks the start of 2008 Mountain West Conference play for the 2007 MWC Tournament Champion BYU Cougars. It will also be the first meeting of the two schools in the 2008 edition of the Deseret First Duel rivalry series between the two teams. The winner of the game will be awarded six points in the competition.

Junior forward Kelly Isleib is Utah’s leading scorer, with five goals in 12 games. Senior midfielder Katy Reineke leads the Utes with two assists. Overall, the team has a 4-6-2 record, and is being outscored by opponents 11-17. The Utes have played in five overtime matches already this season, with a record of 1-2-2.

The Deseret First Duel includes competition in the 12 sports the two universities compete head-to-head during regular-season play. BYU won the inaugural competition in 2007 by a score of 34-30. In soccer, Utah beat the Cougars 1-0 to take the trophy in 2007, but BYU has dominated the series between the two teams, with a 13-5-1 advantage that includes a 12-game winning streak that stretched from 1995 to 2002. BYU is 6-2 all-time in Salt Lake City.

The Duel uses a system that awards points to the winner of each head-to-head competition. A team trophy is awarded to the individual winner of each sport -- football, basketball, softball, etc. Points won by the individual sports count toward each school’s overall total. At the conclusion of each school year, a granite traveling trophy will be awarded to the overall rivalry series champion.

The Utah vs. BYU rivalry is one of the oldest and strongest in the country. In November 2005, the Wall Street Journal rated the rivalry the fourth best in college athletics. Thanks to a partnership with Deseret First Credit Union, the rivalry now has an official name and a traveling trophy to signify yearly supremacy. The Deseret First Duel sponsorship between the two universities and Deseret First Credit Union is for five years.

The Cougars next return to South Field on Oct. 9 at 7:00 p.m. Fans can find live stat feeds of all BYU women’s soccer games by visiting www.byucougars.com/soccer_w/

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.

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Deseret First Duel Schedule 2008-09
Event                           Points Possible             BYU   Utah
Women's Soccer (@Utah)             6                         6      0
Women's Volleyball (@BYU)          3
Women's Volleyball (@Utah)         3
Football (@Utah)                   10
Swimming (@Utah)                   1 each (Men's/Women's)
Women's Gymnastics (@Utah)         3
Women's Gymnastics (@BYU)          3
Women's Basketball (@BYU)          5
Women's Basketball (@Utah)         5
Men's Basketball (@BYU)            5 
Men's Basketball (@Utah)           5
Men's Tennis                       1
Women's Tennis                     1
Men's Baseball (@BYU)              1.5
Men's Baseball (@Utah)             1.5
Men's Baseball (@BYU)              1.5
Men's Baseball (@Utah)             1.5
Women's Softball (@BYU)            1.5
Women's Softball (@Utah)           1.5
Women's Softball (@BYU)            1.5
Women's Softball (@Utah)           1.5
Total Points                       64