Cougar Women Set To Defend MWC Title As Conference Action Begins

BYU's women's soccer team gets ready to defend its MWC championship title as conference action begins. This week BYU travels to New Mexico (Oct. 5, 7 p.m.) and Utah (Oct. 7, 1 p.m.).

Last Week Recap

• BYU hosted two Pac-10 schools last week, getting a 1-1 overtime tie against USC and then rebounding for a 5-1 win over ASU. The Cougars winning ways at South Field remained intact with a 5-0-1 record.

•In the 1-1 overtime tie, Sara Reading scored the lone goal for BYU.

•A total of 2,900 fans saw the Cougars in action on Thursday and Saturday nights at South Field, with the 1,942 crowd on Saturday night being the largest of the 2000 season.

• In the 5-1 upset victory over 15th ranked and undefeated ASU, the team got scores from Natalyn Lewis, Jennie Christianson, Kim Lowe and Sara Reading. Freshman Lydia Ojuka picked up her first career goal in the game as well.

Cougars Picked To Repeat as MWC Champions

BYU was selected as the favorite to capture its second straight conference title in a vote by the league's coaches.

Place Team (1st place votes) Points

1. BYU (5) 35

2. Utah (1) 31

3. San Diego State (1) 27

4. Air Force 21

5. New Mexico 14

6. UNLV 13

7. Wyoming 6

BYU In The Polls

• 21st in Soccer Times (as of 10/01/00)

• 17th in Soccer America (as of 10/02/00)

• 24th in NSCAA Coaches (as of 10/02/00)

2000 Season Highlights

• Record:8-3-1

• Senior Michelle Jensen Peterson continues to lead the team in scoring with nine goals and five assists for her 23 points. She's followed by Kim Lowe who's tallied 18 points from four goals and 10 assists. Lowe leads the team in assists.

• Head Coach Jennifer Rockwood picked up her 100th win in the 2-0 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sept. 23.

• The team picked up its first score off a corner kick in the 2-0 victory over Florida on 9/18. Sara Reading put in a header off Kim Lowe's corner kick.

• Freshman All-America Aleisha Cramer tallied her first collegiate goal for the Cougars, a minute and a half into the Weber State game. In that game, she picked up two goals and an assist. Currently Cramer has two goals and five assist for her nine points from 24 shots.

• Jennifer Waldron, BYU's junior goalkeeper picked up her first solo shutout in 2000 with the 2-0 win over Florida in Gainesville on Sept. 18.

• Sophomore goalie Kylee Dickson got her second start against UWM, recording her second shutout of the year. Her first was against Washington State on Sept. 4, a 3-0 win for the Cougars.

BYU Returning Starters To Watch - 2000 Stats

• 13 Michelle Jensen Peterson - MF/F, Sr (9G, 5A, 23PTS, 37SH)

• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Sr (4G, 10A, 18PTS, 37SH)

• 12 Sara Reading - F/MF, Sr (8G, 1A, 17PTS, 53SH)

• 04 Natalyn Lewis - MF, Sr (4G, 1A, 9PTS, 30SH)

BYU Newcomers To Watch - 2000 Stats

• 17 Aleisha Cramer - MF, Fr (2G, 5A, 9PTS, 31SH)

• 14 Annie Hoecherl - 5-10 D, Fr (Played in 10 games, has one goal for her two points to date)

Cougar 2000 Quickie Stats

• Averaging 24.1 shots on goal per game

• Averaging 3.0 goals per game

• Average 3.16 assists per game

• Picking up 6.83 corner kicks a game

New Mexico Notes

The Lobos open conference play on Tuesday, Oct. 3 against Utah prior to hosting the Cougars on Thursday night. Currently UNM is 5-6-0 on the year and have a 3-3- record at home. The Lobos are getting 12.9 shots, 1.2 goals and1.0 assists in regular games. Jayme Dieringer leads New Mexico in scoring with 10 points from four goals and two assists. Tata Alarid has three goals and two assists for her eight points on the year.

Series Against New Mexico

Record: 4-1-1 favoring the Cougars. In last year's game, BYU defeated UNM 4-0 in Provo.

University of Utah Notes

This will be the seventh meeting between both teams. Utah currently has a 7-4-1 record on the year, 4-2 when playing at home. The Utes are averaging 15.8 shots and 2.7 goals per game. Their team has also tallied two assists a game and is picking up 4.6 corner kicks in regular games. Utah opens conference play against New Mexico on Tuesday, Oct. 3 before hosting the Cougars on Saturday at 1 p.m. Amy Kofoed leads the Utah offensive attack. She's compiled 11 goals and one assist for her 23 points. Two other Utes are in double digit points. Katie Tate has 17 points from seven goals and three assists while Amber Brower, who leads the team in assists has 11 points from three goals and five assists.

Series Against Utah

The Record: 7-0 in favor of BYU. Last year, the two teams played twice with the Cougars picking up a 1-0 victory at home and then beating them 4-3 in one of two semifinal game at the MWC championships in San Diego.

Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes

(On the Cougars) We're playing our best soccer right now. I have told the team that everything we've done all season so far is in preparation for conference play. It has been our goal to get better with each game so we can be ready for our league competition.

(On New Mexico and Utah) This is what we've been working towards and we're excited and are ready to start our conference competition. We;re looking forward to playing both of these teams. We need to play our best soccer if we want to win another title in this conference. It's always hard to open conference play on the road and we just need to come out and play tough and have a desire to win.

The Rockwood File

Jennifer Rockwood begins her sixth season at the helm of BYU's women's soccer program. In the five year history of the Division I program, she has guided her team to two conference championships and three straight appearances in the NCAA Championships beginning with the 1997 season. The Cougars highest finish in the NCAA tourney came in 1998 when BYU finished in the "Sweet Sixteen." Her many honors include being named Coach of the Year by the Western Athletic Conference and by Soccer Buzz in 1996.

Prior to becoming the head coach, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team, for seven years compiling a 128-25-9 record. In her final two years, she took her teams to first place in the Western National Collegiate Club Soccer Association (NCCSA) championships and to second place in the NCCSA national championships.

A native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Rockwood was a three-sport athlete , receiving all-league and all-state honors in soccer, basketball, and track. She has also competed in the Olympic Development Program in both Oregon and Utah. Rockwood attended Ricks College on an academic and basketball scholarship for one year and then transferred to BYU, graduating in 1989 with a business administration degree. While at BYU, she played on the soccer club team as a four-year starter at center midfield.

Rockwood coached in the Utah Olympic Development Program and has coached at the youth club and high school levels. She is also currently the director of BYU summer soccer camps which recently put through over 1,400 participants.

Rockwood's Record (11 Years at BYU)

Club team/years: 128-25-9/7

Division I/years: 101-25-2/6

1995 Record: 11-8-1

1996 Record: 22-1-0

1997 Record: 19-4-0

1998 Record: 20-5-0

1999 Record: 21-4-0

2000 Record: 8-3-1

Cougars Travel Itinerary

For the New Mexico game, the BYU team will be staying at the Hampton Inn in Albuquerque, 505-837-9300. The Cougars arrive Wednesday night, Oct. 4 and will practice at 9:30 a.m., on Thursday, Oct. 5.

BYU Media Information/Home Practice Schedule

At home, the Cougars practice daily from 2 to 5 p.m. Player and/or coach Rockwood interviews may be done in advance by contacting Norma Collett at 801-378-4908 or via e-mail at norma_collett@byu.edu There are no player interviews 24 hours prior to games.

Up Next For The Cougars

BYU continues MWC action, this time at home hostingSDSU and UNLV on Oct. 12 and 14. These two games will be the final two of the season at home for the Cougars. Both games are set to kick off at 6 p.m. at South Field.