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For the first time since 2002, the BYU women’s soccer team took home the regular season Mountain West Conference Championship title, after a 3-0 against the Air Force Academy on Saturday.

“This was a great confidence-builder for our team,” said BYU women’s soccer head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “Our ability to keep the ball and apply some pressure really helped get us going.”

With two attempts at goal within the first 15 minutes of the game, the Cougars paved the way for a strong first half. Despite both shots being blocked by Falcon’s senior goal keeper, Erin Wallace, BYU continued to apply the pressure, giving Air Force something to work for.

It was not until 30 minutes into the first half that BYU was finally able to get into position. With an assist from teammate Lauren Anderson, BYU junior Kelsea Kakedelas made the first goal of the night, pulling the Cougars to a 1-0 lead.

Keeping up the intensity, BYU continued to push toward the goal to get another point on the scoreboard. There were only 32 seconds remaining in the first half when No. 22, Katie Fellows Hodgkiss took a shot and scored, furthering the Cougar’s lead to 2-0 going into the second half.

Entering the second half the Cougars followed the pattern of the first half, waiting only 13 minutes before scoring. With an assist from junior Ashleigh Jameson, BYU senior Katie Larkin scored, advancing the score to 3-0.

“Katie is a tremendous player,” said Rockwood. “She’s a big reason why this team has been so successful.”

After nine shots by BYU and two from Air Force, the second half proved less eventful than the first with no additional goals after the first fifteen minutes.

After 30 more minutes of back and forth defense, the Cougars came out on top with a victory and a Conference title.

The women’s team plays again on Tuesday night against Weber State. The game will begin at 7 p.m. MST.

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Soccer Box Score (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
                     AF vs BY (Oct 25, 2008 at Provo, Utah)
AF (4-12-0) vs.                                             Goals by period       1  2  Tot
BY (13-5-0)                                                 -------------------------------
Date: Oct 25, 2008  Attendance: 1660                        AF..................  0  0 -  0
Weather:                                                    BY..................  2  1 -  3
AF                                                      BY
Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A               Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A
------------------------------------------              ------------------------------------------
GK  1  WALLACE, Erin.......   -   -  -  -               GK  32 OLSON, McKinzie.....   -   -  -  -
D   2  NAIL, Shannon.......   -   -  -  -               F   3  ANDERSON, Lauren....   4   1  -  1
MF  4  YADLIN, Roni........   -   -  -  -               D   4  COOK, Karen.........   1   -  -  1
F   5  FINCH, Susan........   -   -  -  -               MF  5  FELLER, Whitney.....   -   -  -  -
F   7  MURPHY, Bridgett....   -   -  -  -               D   9  DRAEGER, Amanda.....   -   -  -  -
F   10 BIEBER, Kelly.......   -   -  -  -               D   10 CARTER, Jessica.....   -   -  -  -
D   11 SHANKLIN, Krystin...   1   -  -  -               D   11 WILLIS, Andrea......   1   -  -  -
D   14 SIKORA, Ashley......   -   -  -  -               MF  15 KAKADELAS, Kelsea...   1   1  1  -
D   15 WOLVERTON, Kristen..   -   -  -  -               MF  16 JANIS, Auna.........   1   1  -  -
D   19 SIKORA, Amber.......   -   -  -  -               F   18 LARKIN, Katie.......   6   3  1  -
D   20 WILSON, Cassie......   -   -  -  -               F   21 CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy   2   2  -  -
     ---------- Substitutes ----------                       ---------- Substitutes ----------
    3  WATTS, Heather......   -   -  -  -                   1  SHELTON, Aleena.....   -   -  -  -
    12 EISSELE, Meagan.....   -   -  -  -                   2  OLDROYD, Dana.......   -   -  -  -
    16 NEPTUNE, Ali........   -   -  -  -                   6  RICHARDSON, Megan...   -   -  -  -
    22 CONNELL, Kristen....   -   -  -  -                   7  MARSHALL, Jennie....   -   -  -  -
    23 TUNG, Kalyn.........   1   -  -  -                   8  NELSON, Rachel......   -   -  -  -
    24 ARADINE, Sharon.....   -   -  -  -                   12 RIDDLE, Becca.......   3   2  -  -
    25 ATKINS, Danielle....   -   -  -  -                   14 JAMESON, Ashleigh...   1   -  -  1
    26 26..................   -   -  -  -                   19 ERNST, Nicole.......   -   -  -  -
       Totals..............   2   0  0  0                   20 DOW-JACKSON, Kristi.   -   -  -  -
                                                            22 HODGKISS, Katie.....   2   1  1  -
                                                            23 VANDER Veur, Alyssa.   1   -  -  -
                                                            25 URRY, Nicole........   -   -  -  -
                                                               Totals..............  23  11  3  3
AF                                                      BY
## Player                 MIN  GA Saves                 ## Player                 MIN  GA Saves
---------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------
1  WALLACE, Erin.......  90:00  3     7                 32 OLSON, McKinzie.....  58:27  0     0
TM TEAM................   0:00  0     1                 1  SHELTON, Aleena.....  31:33  0     0
                                                        TM TEAM................   0:00  0     0
Shots by period       1  2  Tot                         Saves by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
AF..................  0  2 -  2                         AF..................  6  2 -  8
BY.................. 14  9 - 23                         BY..................  0  0 -  0
Corner kicks          1  2  Tot                         Fouls                 1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
AF..................  0  1 -  1                         AF..................  2  2 -  4
BY..................  4  3 -  7                         BY..................  3  2 -  5
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                                  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   21:35 BY       KAKADELAS, Kelsea (1)    ANDERSON, Lauren
 2.   44:29 BY       HODGKISS, Katie (4)      (unassisted)
 3.   56:10 BY       LARKIN, Katie (8)        COOK, Karen; JAMESON, Ashleigh
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
Officials:
Offsides: AF 0, BY 7.

PROVO -- The last homestand of the season begins for the Cougars on Saturday, Oct. 25, when they face off against Air Force at 7:00 p.m. BYU’s final home match of the 2008 regular season will be on Tuesday, Oct. 28 when in-state foe Weber State visits South Field at 7:00 p.m.

At 5-0 in the MWC, BYU has clinched at least a partial share of the MWC regular championship. If the Cougars win or tie against Air Force on Saturday night, the team will clinch the 2008 MWC Championship outright. The regular season championship would be the first for the team since 2002, when the team went 6-0 during the conference season and would be the sixth regular season conference for the team. Five of those championships are from the MWC, and one is from the WAC.

The Cougars are the reigning 2007 MWC Tournament champions and finished tied for third during the regular season.

The Falcons are 3-12-0 overall (0-5-0, MWC) and is currently on a six-game losing streak. Air Force lost to San Diego State 7-0 on Oct. 17 and to UNLV 4-0 on Oct. 19.The team’s leading scorer is freshman midfielder Bridgett Murphy, who has six goals in 15 games. Senior midfielder Roni Yadlin has four goals and one assist. Four Falcons have scored this season.

Weber State plays twice before facing the Cougars, and currently sits at 6-7-2 (3-1-0, Big Sky). The team lost its first conference game Sunday, Oct. 19, falling to Northern Colorado 2-1 in Greeley. Senior midfielder Hayley McCoy leads the Wildcats with five goals and four assists in 2008. Four other Wildcats have each scored three goals apiece. Weber State is outshooting their opponents 242-205, but is being outscored 22-18. Rebecca Ritchie, as junior goalkeeper, has a 1.18 goals-against-average for the team and has started all 14 games in goal this year.

Fans attending the Air Force game will be able to use their ticket stub from the BYU-UNLV football game earlier in the day to get into the game for $1. The game against Weber State has been dubbed “Fan Appreciation Night.” The Cougars will also honor five seniors before the game.

Both games will be televised live on BYUTV/KBYU. A live video feed for the Air Force game and live stat feeds for both games can be accessed by visiting www.byucougars.com/soccer_w/.

The Cougars’ final regular season game of 2008 is on Nov. 1 when BYU travels to Laramie to face off against Wyoming at 11:00 a.m.

The MWC 2008 Soccer tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Wednesday, Nov. 5 through Saturday, Nov.8.

Cougar fans can join the official Women's Soccer texting group by texting the words "WSOC" to the number 83043. Members of the group will receive reminders about game times, information about ticket discounts and other promotions.