2015 Season Review

2015 Season Review

PROVO, Utah – For the fourth-straight season, BYU women’s soccer won the West Coast Conference and advanced to the NCAA tournament. The 2015 team accomplished a lot more along the way as well. 

The Cougars set the program record for fewest goals allowed and recorded the second-most shutouts in program history. BYU set the longest home shutout streak in program history and owns the nation’s longest current home winning streak.

On the national stage, BYU was the first team not named Portland to lead the nation in per-game attendance in the past 10 years as South Field also saw the most total fans in the nation for the third time ever. BYU’s 3,497 was the fourth highest average in NCAA history for a season.

The Cougars set two new game attendance records at South Field in games against Colorado (5,589) and Utah (5,620). Those games are 14th and 12th all-time for NCAA regular season crowds. BYU also ended up with seven of the top 16 crowds in the nation and had the largest crowdsin the nation in both September and October. 

On the field, BYU went 16-3-2 and 7-1-1 in WCC play to win the outright conference title. Sophomore forward Nadia Gomes was named WCC Player of the Year, the second straight season a Cougar earned the award. Junior goalkeeper Rachel Boaz was named WCC Goalkeeper of the Year, which is the third time in four seasons a Cougar earned that award.

Gomes was named to the NSCAA All-America Third Team, while Elena Medeiros, Rachel Boaz and Michele Murphy Vasconcelos were also NSCAA All-West Region selections.

Senior Sarah Chambers Gardner was the first BYU soccer player ever selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team and also made Academic All-District 8. Gardner and Bizzy Phillips were selected to the WCC All-Academic Team.

During the season, Gomes, Vasconcelos and Madie Lyons were voted WCC Players of the Week. Three players played more than 1,900 minutes as center backs Taylor Campbell Isom and Stephanie Ringwood led the team in minutes played and Phillips was right on there tails at the holding midfield spot. Six players scored multiple goals and eight players made multiple assists, including Jocelyn Loomis and Paige Hunt.

BYU advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 1 seed Stanford 2-1 in Palo Alto.

The Cougars finished in the top 10 in the nation in five categories and in the top 50 in another. The Cougars were No. 2 in save percentage (.904) and shots per game (21.24), No. 3 in GAA (0.42) and shutout percentage (.667) and No. 9 in win percentage (.810). BYU was also No. 32 in shots on goal per game with 7.67. The team's save percentage and goals against average are the best in program history, as well.