PROVO -- On a warm Halloween afternoon, the No.9 ranked BYU women’s soccer team secured its second consecutive regular season Mountain West Conference Championship after finishing their conference season unbeaten with a 2-0 win over Wyoming on Senior Day.

“I’m really excited for these players and their futures,” said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “I’m proud of the way they played.”

The Cougars finish the regular season with a 16-2-2, 6-0-1 record and on a 14-game unbeaten, six-game winning, streak.

BYU’s active offense tested Wyoming’s back line throughout the first half. The Cougars took their first real chance after just 15 minutes of play. Jessica Ringwood got free on the left side and sent a cross to a wide-open Carlee Payne in front of the goal. Courtney Merkle’s one-handed save barely kept Payne’s header out of the upper left corner of the net.

Merkle got some help from the post with 20 minutes left to play after a header by Kassidy C. Shumway bounced from her hands to the post and back again without crossing the line.

Shumway got closer and closer to penetrating the defense with a ball across the face of a goal and then a sliding shot that veered just wide, both with 15 minutes left on the clock in the first half. Play settled down and neither team had a solid opening the rest of the half.

With so many close calls, it was only a matter of time before Shumway’s efforts led to a goal. Five minutes into the second half, Payne went streaking down the field taking two defenders with her before passing the ball off to Shumway. This time, with an open net, the junior sent a soaring ball into the top of the goal giving BYU a 1-0 lead.

“Wyoming came out and made it hard for us in the first half,” Rockwood said. “I was happy with the way the players kept up their hope and confidence.”

Wyoming tried to tie things up midway through the half with a shot near the left post but sophomore McKinzie Olson made a diving save to prevent the Cowgirls from evening the score.

Willis extended the lead with 16 minutes left when her free kick slipped through the goalie’s fingertips and into the net making it 2-0. Both teams had a few chances in the remaining time, but were unable to convert any of those to points.

“We love to play here in Provo and hope to have a lot of fans come out and support the girls in the conference tournament,” Rockwood said. “We took another step in the right direction today.”

Olson recorded her 10th personal shutout of the season to give her a new career-high. The Cougars finished with 15 shots to Wyoming's four.

The team will next host the Mountain West Conference Championship beginning Wednesday at South Field. BYU will play its first game Thursday at 3 p.m.

Tickets for the tournament are now on sale through byutickets.com.

                            Soccer Box Score (Final)
                               BYU COUGAR SOCCER
      Wyoming Cowgirls vs #9 Brigham Young (Oct 31, 2009 at BYU PROVO UT)
Wyoming Cowgirls (9-7-3 ;3-3-1 ;MWC) vs.                Goals by period       1  2  Tot
Brigham Young (16-2-2;6-0-1 ; MWC)                      -------------------------------
Date: Oct 31, 2009  Attendance: 1617                    Wyoming Cowgirls....  0  0 -  0
Weather: 40 SUNNY  7MPH WINDS                           Brigham Young.......  0  2 -  2
Wyoming Cowgirls                                        Brigham Young
Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A        Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A 
------------------------------------------        ------------------------------------------------
GK  0  MERKLE, Courtney....   -   -  -  -        GK  32 OLSON, McKinzie.....   -   -  -  - 
MF  3  LAYTON, Emily.......   1   1  -  -         F   3  ANDERSON, Lauren....   1   1  -  -  
D   4  BURGER, Bostyn......   -   -  -  -         F   7  PAYNE, Carlee.......   1   1  -  1  
D   6  CODDINGTON, Chelsea.   -   -  -  -         MF  8  KONING, Mercede.....   -   -  -  - 
MF  9  JOHNSON, Jenny......   1   1  -  -         D   11 Willis, Andrea......   2   2  1  - 
D   11 MASUMIYA, Allison...   -   -  -  -         F   13 BARTHOLOMEW, Stacy..   -   -  -  - 
D   13 WILSON, Emma........   -   -  -  -         MF  15 KAKADELAS, Kelsea...   -   -  -  1 
MF  14 ETHERIDGE, Kerstyn..   -   -  -  -         D   18 LISONBEE, Lindsi....   1   -  -  - 
D   17 COSGROVE, Mara......   1   1  -  -         F   21 SHUMWAY-C, Kassidy..   7   4  1  - 
F   19 RICE, Nicole........   -   -  -  -         F   22 RINGWOOD, Jessica...   1   1  -  - 
MF  22 CANDELARIA, Juliana.   -   -  -  -         F   23 VANDER VEUR, Alyssa.   1   1  -  -
 ---------- Substitutes ----------                       ---------- Substitutes ----------
    1  JANIS, Shalayne.....   1   1  -  -             9  MARSHALL, Jennie....   1   1  -  - 
    5  DIVENCENZO, Jerrica.   -   -  -  -             14 JAMESON, Ashleigh...   -   -  -  - 
    8  BLUME, Carmen.......   -   -  -  -             16 JANIS, Auna.........   -   -  -  - 
    10 JOHNSON, Morgan.....   -   -  -  -             19 ERNST, Nicole.......   -   -  -  - 
    12 MOHTADI, Olivia.....   -   -  -  -             25 URRY-Gilliam, Nicole   -   -  -  - 
    24 AMSBERRY, Katie.....   -   -  -  -                 Totals..............  15 11  2  2
    29 JONES, Sydney.......   -   -  -  - 
    33 BURKE, Meagan.......   -   -  -  - 
       Totals..............   4   4  0  0
Wyoming Cowgirls                                    Brigham Young
## Player                 MIN  GA Saves             ## Player                 MIN  GA Saves
---------------------------------------             ---------------------------------------
0  MERKLE, Courtney....  77:09  2     8             32 OLSON, McKinzie.....  90:00  0     4
33 BURKE, Meagan.......  12:51  0     1
Shots by period       1  2  Tot                     Saves by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                     -------------------------------
Wyoming Cowgirls....  1  3 -  4                     Wyoming Cowgirls....  4  5 -  9
Brigham Young.......  6  9 - 15                     Brigham Young.......  1  3 -  4
Corner kicks          1  2  Tot                     Fouls                 1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                    -------------------------------
Wyoming Cowgirls....  0  4 -  4                     Wyoming Cowgirls....  6  4 - 10
Brigham Young.......  2  4 -  6                     Brigham Young.......  7  3 - 10
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                  
-----------------------------------------------------------
 1.   50:11 BY       SHUMWAY-C, Kassidy       PAYNE, Carlee
 2.   73:17 BY       Willis, Andrea           KAKADELAS, Kelsea
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
YC-BY #23 (25:15); YC-WY #9 (84:36)
Officials: Referee: KAREN SWAMMER; Asst. Referee: BRENT STEVENS; SCHYLER PACK;
Alt. Official: PHILIP PACK; Timekeeper: JERRY; Scorer: SARA;
Offsides: Wyoming Cowgirls 1, Brigham Young 1.

PROVO -- The No. 9 BYU Cougars (14-2-2, 5-0-1) look to finish out their regular season with an away game at Weber State on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and a home game on Halloween against Wyoming at 1 p.m.

The Cougars are on a 12-game unbeaten streak and have, most recently, recorded four consecutive shutout wins over UNLV, New Mexico, TCU and Air Force.

Freshman Carlee Payne continues to lead the Cougar offense with 11 goals and 44 shots. Payne has now scored in 10 of BYU's 18 games and was named MWC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 19.

The Cougar defense has only allowed 10 goals in the 2009 campaign. Sophomore goalie McKinzie Olson has record nine personal shutout wins, three of them coming over top-25 ranked teams.

Weber State (6-10-0) will be BYU's final non-conference opponent in 2009. The Cougars hold a 12-0-1 overall record against the Wildcats and have won their last three straight games against them.

Jessie Baddley leads the Wildcats with four goals and 55 shots. Six Wildcats have taken double-figure shots so far this season.

For their final conference game of the 2009 season, the Cougars will take on a 9-6-3, 3-2-1 Wyoming team. BYU holds a 13-1-0 overall record against the Cowgirls and is undefeated against them at South Field.

Carmen Blume leads Wyoming with four goals. Teammate Emma Wilson is currently tied for first in the MWC for the total number of assists per game.

Saturday's contest will also be Senior Night at South Field. The following players will be recognized: Ashleigh Jameson, Kelsea Kakadelas, Simone Seymour, Whitney Feller-Steed, Alyssa Vander Veur and Andrea Willis.

BYU has been consistently ranked in the top-20 in national polls for the last six weeks. Soccer America ranks BYU at No. 9 with other rankings from SoccerTimes, TopDrawerSoccer and the NSCAA. BYU is currently ranked No. 27 in the NCAA RPI as well.

To receive up-to-the-minute updates about each game, follow the BYU soccer team on twitter at www.twitter.com/byusoccer.

Join the official BYU Women’s Soccer Texting group by texting “wsoc” to 83043. Members of the group receive game times and promotions, such as 2-for-1 discounts to EVERY game!

For ticket information, visit www.byutickets.com or call 422.BYU1

Special promotions for Saturday's game

-Wear a costume get in for $1

-Trick-or-Treat with the athletes after the game in the grassy area to the east of the bleachers (bring a pillowcase)