Weekly Release #8 - Two Conference Road Games This Week

Two Down, Four To Go

After games against conference rivals New Mexico and Air Force last week, the No. 12 BYU women's soccer team enters this week with a 2-0 record against Mountain West Conference opponents as they take to the road to face San Diego State (5-7-1, 0-1) and UNLV (6-6-2, 0-1-0).

Currently the four-time defending MWC Champion Cougars (10-3-1) hold a 15-game winning streak against MWC schools during the regular season and MWC Tournament.

Both the Aztecs and Rebels were defeated by Wyoming in their conference openers last week and will be looking to get on the winning track with games against the Cougars and No. 19 Utah.

BYU and San Diego have matched up 12 different times dating back to 1995, with the Cougars holding a 7-5 lead over the Aztecs. The Cougars have won the last five contests by an average score of 4.6 -- 1.2.

Dating back to 1998 when the Rebels and Cougars first met, BYU has refused to drop a single contest to UNLV, winning all six games between the two schools.

The Rebels are coming off a 0-0 double-overtime tie with Colorado College on Sunday, which gave UNLV its sixth shutout of the season, while the Cougars are coming off a 4-0 victory over Air Force for the team's seventh shutout on the year.

No. 12 BYU and San Diego get underway Thursday, Oct. 16, at 3 p.m. (PDT) at the SDSU Sports Desk and then head to Las Vegas for a Saturday, Oct. 18, matchup with UNLV at 7:30 p.m. (PDT) at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

The Last Time

In game two of the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference, No. 1 seed BYU demolished No. 5 seed San Diego State 9-2 as seven different Cougars found the back of the net. Junior Jennifer Fielding and freshman Jamie Rendich scored two goals a piece to lead the Cougars to victory. BYU scored five goals in the first half on 13 shots. Freshman Brooke Bowman recorded the first goal 12 minutes into the game off an assist from Aleisha Cramer Rose. Britney Holman scored the first goal of her career as she dribbled the ball all the way from midfield with 24 minutes left in the first half and junior Lydia Ojuka's header sent the Cougars into the break at 5-0. Four minutes into the second half, MWC Player of the Year Jeni Viernes scored again for the Cougars before sitting out the rest of the game. Freshman Davia King notched her second goal of the season with five minutes left in the match. San Diego State's Boo Tinling scored both goals for the Aztecs, including a header with 16 seconds left in the game. The Cougars led 8-0 before the Aztecs outscored them 2-1 in the final seven minutes of play. BYU out shot SDSU 25-9 as the Cougars set a MWC Tournament record nine goals.

Facing a two-goal deficit at the half, BYU scored three goals in the second half to defeat UNLV 3-2. UNLV got off to a quick lead with a header goal by freshman Nickie Olson off a cross from the right side from sophomore Jessika Vasquez. Four minutes later senior captain Cristyn Enea received a deflection six yards in front of the BYU goal for a point blank score. The Rebels took a 2-0 lead into the half despite being out shot by the Cougars 14-4. Senior Jeni Viernes led a furious comeback in the second half with a goal less than a minute into the half. Fifteen minutes later, Viernes scored a double-header goal, her second of the game, to tie it at 2-2. Freshman Brooke Bowman scored the game-winning goal, her second in the last week, with a sliding-kick from junior Lydia Ojuka. BYU out shot UNLV 33-8 in the physical game that saw a total of 29 fouls committed by both teams.

Going On 200

Saturday's matchup with UNLV will be the 200th game of head coach Jennifer Rockwood's career. Over the span of those 200 games, Rockwood has managed to win an impressive 18.85 games per season and currently ranks eighth among active Division I coaches in winning percentage with 78 percent of all her games ending in Cougar victories. Rockwood recently reached the 150 win plateau with a home victory over No. 14 USC on Oct. 3, 2003.

150 And Counting

In Friday, Oct. 3, Coach Jennifer Rockwood earned her 150th career-win as the Cougars defeated No. 14 USC 2-1 at South Stadium. Rockwood became the first Mountain West Conference coach to reach the 150 win plateau and currently ranks eighth among active Division I coaches. She is also the first MWC to reach 100 wins

Last Game: New Mexico & Air Force

No. 12 BYU recorded its seventh shutout of the year with a 4-0 win over Air Force Academy (5-7-1) Saturday night. Senior All-American and Hermann Trophy candidate Aleisha Rose opened the scoring thirty-three minutes into the game with a bending shot off a twenty-five-yard free kick that was perfectly placed in the upper-right corner, glanced off the right goal post and bounced into the back of the net. Freshman Amberlea Anderson came through in the 43rd minute as freshman Nicole Jenson sent a serve into the Air Force box from midfield and Anderson hammered the ball past the Falcons' keeper to give BYU the 2-0 lead going into halftime. Six minutes into the second half that pressure cracked through the defense once again as senior Terra Bigelow scored off a deflection and gave her team a comfortable three-goal lead. With a little less than thirty minutes remaining in the contest, sophomore Charlene Lui sent a strike into the bottom right corner of the goal, putting the Cougars up 4-0, a lead the Cougars would maintain and hold on to win their tenth game of the season.

In the Mountain West Conference opener, the BYU New Mexico Thursday night by a score of 5-1 as five different Cougars found the back of the net. The Cougars were all night as they out shot the Lobos 29-7, claimed a 5-0 advantage on corner kicks and tallied the most goals in a single game this season. Senior Jennifer Fielding scored the first goal for the Cougars only seven minutes into the game after Lobos keeper Kristen Winters deflected a shot by senior Lydia Ojuka and Fielding smacked in the ball for the early 1-0 lead. Freshman Annie Zwahlen kept things going for BYU by scoring her fourth goal of the season to put the Cougars up 2-0 in the 37th minute. The Lobos managed to answer before the end of the first period of play when Kristine Sweat managed to sneak up on Cougar keeper Natalie Evans to bring New Mexico within one heading into the half. After the break the Cougars came out strong, once again applying the pressure to the New Mexico defense in an effort to push their lead beyond a single goal. Senior Terra Bigelow answered the call for the Cougars as she and Fielding hooked up on the first goal of the second period that put the Cougars up 3-1. With time winding down junior Krissa Campbell put the game out of reach as she scored off of freshman Courtney Asay's touch pass by sending a rocket past Winters. Only one minute later, senior All-American and Hermann Trophy candidate Aleisha Rose added a little insurance to the Cougars' win by striking from 30 yards out with a chip-shot that floated over Winters' head and hit the back of the net giving the Cougars a 5-1 win. Both Asay and freshman Amberlea Anderson were credited with the assist on the shot.

Living Live

For the remainder of the 2003 season, all Cougar home games will have Live Stats available online at www.byucougars.com/soccer_w by simply clicking on the 2003 schedule and then selecting the appropriate "Live Stat" link with the corresponding game. Live Stats provides an opportunity for those who cannot be at South Stadium to still follow and enjoy BYU Women's Soccer.

Tops of the NCAA

Category No. Name Actual

Assists in one game 2 Aleisha Rose 4

Assists per game 4 Aleisha Rose 0.75/game

Shutout Percentage 39 BYU 0.50 (six of 12)

Tops of the Mountain West

Category No. Name Actual

Shots/game 1 BYU 18.50/game

Points/game 1 BYU 7.00/game

Goals 1 BYU 33 total

Goals/game 1 BYU 2.36/game

Assists/game 1 BYU 2.29/game

GAA 2 BYU 0.79/game

GA 2 BYU 11 total

Shutout percentage 1 BYU 0.50 total

Corners/game 1 BYU 8.00/game

Attendance 1 BYU 1,369/game

Home Attendance 1 BYU 1,588/game

Individual No. Name Actual

Shots/game T-2 Lydia Ojuka 3.00/game

Points 1 Aleisha Rose 17 total

5 Jaime Rendich 14 total

Points/game 3 Aleisha Rose 1.21/game

Goals 5 Terra Bigelow 5 total

Game-winning goals T-2 Lydia Ojuka 2 total

T-2 Annie Zwahlen 2 total

T-2 Jaime Rendich 2 total

Assists 1 Aleisha Rose 9 total

Assists/game 1 Aleisha Rose 0.64/game

Assists in one game 1 Aleisha Rose 4 total

Game-winning goals 2 Annie Zwahlen 3 total

Shutouts 1 Ashley Smith 4 total

Shutout per game 1 Ashley Smith 0.36/game

Shutout Percentage 1 BYU 0.50 (six of 12)

GAA 2 Ashley Smith 0.73 in 857:22

The Assist Queen

Senior All-American Aleisha Rose tallied four assists against Southern Utah on Setp. 8, setting a new BYU school record and South Stadium record for most assists in a single game. The previous record of three assists was shared by Natalyn Lewis, Athelia Graham and Shauna Rohbock. With her assist on Terra Bigelow's goal in the 52nd minute against SUU, Rose became the No. 1 all-time career assist leader at BYU, passing Michelle J. Peterson who set the mark in 2000 with 38 career assists.

Ranking Or No Ranking

The Cougars are 3-1-1 against opponents ranked in the top 25 this season. BYU defeated No. 7 Tennessee 1-0, No. 14 Kentucky 2-1, and tied No. 17 Michigan 0-0 in double overtime. No. 2 Florida defeated the Cougars 3-2 in overtime for their only loss to a ranked team. At home the Cougars are 1-1-1 and 1-0-0 on the road with the lone road game being against Kentucky.

Rose On Hermann Trophy Watch List

Three-time All-American senior Aleisha Rose, of the BYU women's soccer team, was named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy watch in late August. The M.A.C.'s Hermann Trophy is college soccer's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy and represents the highest level of individual achievement in the sport.

Rose, a preseason All-American, is one of 15 athletes who make up the watch list that includes the top Division I athletes in the country. Past recipients include some of the biggest names in soccer, such as Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon MacMillan, Cindy Parlow, Claudio Reyna, Tony Meola and Alexi Lalas.

Rose Named Preseason All-America

In August, Soccer America announced its 2003 preseason All-Americans, and heading up the list is three-time All-American senior Aleisha Rose of the BYU women's soccer team.

Rose, a native of Lakewood, Colo., is one of the most decorated athletes to ever play for the Cougars and has been an integral part to the team's success the past three seasons.

Rose is one of 11 athletes that makes up the 2003 Soccer America preseason All-American list.

Cougar Awards in 2003

National

Preseason All-American - Aleisha Rose

Hermann Trophy candidate - Aleisha Rose

Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week:

- Midfielder, Aleisha Rose 9/16

Soccer America Team of the Week:

- Defender, Claire Thomas 9/8

- Midfielder, Aleisha Rose 9/16

- Forward, Annie Zwahlen 10/6

Conference

Offensive Player of the Week - Aleisha Rose 9/15

Defensive Player of the Week - Nicole Jensen 9/2

- Claire Thomas 9/8

- Britney Holman 10/6

Cougar Awards in 2002

National

NSCAA ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 2nd Team

NSCAA All-West Region: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 1st Team; Jeni Viernes, 1st Team; Brooke Bowman, 3rd Team

SOCCER BUZZ ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 3rd Team; Brooke Bowman, Freshman 3rd Team

SOCCER BUZZ ALL-WEST REGION: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 1st Team; Jeni Viernes, 1st Team; Brooke Bowman, All-Freshman Team

Conference

MWC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jeni Viernes

MWC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Brooke Bowman

MWC FIRST TEAM: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jeni Viernes, Brooke Bowman

MWC SECOND TEAM: Annie Hoecherl, Charlene Lui

MWC TOURNAMENT MVP: Jeni Viernes

MWC TOURNAMENT TEAM: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jeni Viernes, Jennifer Fielding-Henry, Brooke Bowman

MWC ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Brooke Bowman, Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jennifer Fielding-Henry, Katherine Gabbart, Britney Holman, Charlene Lui, Terra Smith-Bigelow, Jeni Viernes

Standing Room Only

A record crowd packed into South Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5 to watch the Cougars take on the No. 7 Tennessee Lady Vols. The game drew a standing-room-only crowd with 2,758 fans in attendance, breaking the old record of 2,191 set one week earlier in the season opener against No. 17 Michigan. That mark fell once again as 2,412 fans were on hand to watch No. 2 Florida and BYU battled to a 3-2 overtime Gator win on Sept. 26.

South Stadium

For the past eight years South Stadium, formerly South Field, has been the battlefield for the Cougars as they have taken on, and defeated, the top teams in their conference and in the NCAA. The Cougars have amassed a 80-13-2 (.861) record at home, a record that is among the best in the nation over the same time period.

Of those 80 home-game wins, an outstanding 44 have ended in a shutout. The Cougars consistently hold their opponents scoreless when playing at South Stadium with 55 percent of all their games ending in shutout victories, while BYU has been shutout only five times in the stadium's history.

The Stadium's crowds consistently rank in the top 15 in the NCAA for the largest crowds in the country. With an average attendance of 1,075 fans during the 2002 campaign, the Cougars had the 15th largest attendance average in the country making South Stadium one of the toughest places for opponents to play in college today.

The Rockwood File

In only eight short years, head coach Jennifer Rockwood has taken the BYU women's soccer team to national prominence and established herself as one of the premier coaches in Division I soccer today.

Rockwood currently ranks eighth in winning percentage among active NCAA coaches with an impressive 142-39-3 (.780) overall record for her career, with the likes of Anson Dorrance, John Walker, Chris Petrucelli, Becky Burleigh and Clive Charles being the only coaches ahead of her. Over the last seven seasons, Rockwood has averaged 18.85 wins per year, an average that has her ranked second behind only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina.

In eight years as head coach, Rockwood has guided the Cougars to five conference championships. After going undefeated in conference play and winning their fourth straight Mountain West Conference title last season, the Cougars managed to remain the only team to win the conference title in the history of the MWC.

On the national scene, Rockwood and her teams have made six consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and reached the "Sweet Sixteen" in 1998 and 2000. Under the watch of Rockwood, the Cougars have also had seven consecutive top-25 finishes including last season's No. 23 finish.

Among the many achievements and awards she has received over her career, Rockwood has been honored with two Coach of the Year citations, one by the Western Athletic Conference in 1996, and then by the MWC in 2000. She also became the first MWC coach to eclipse the 100-win total mark when the Cougars shutout Milwaukee-Wisconsin 2-0 on Sept. 23, 2000.

Under Rockwood's tutelage, a long list of All-American soccer players has emerged from BYU's program. These athletes include Aleisha Rose, Jeni Viernes, and Michelle Jensen. Among the players who have been coached by Rockwood are four athletes that were drafted by the women's United Soccer Association: Shauna Rohbock, Maren Hendershot, Sara Reading, and Staci Reynolds.

Prior to becoming the head coach, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team for seven years. In that time she amassed an overall record of 128-25-9, and in the final two years she took her teams to the Western National Collegiate Club soccer Association (NCCSA) title and placed second in the NCCSA National Championships.

The Lake Oswego, Ore. native was a three-sport athlete in college playing soccer, basketball, and track. After one year at Ricks College on a basketball scholarship, she transferred to BYU where she became a four-year starter at center midfield on the Cougars' club soccer team. Rockwood has also coached in the Utah ODP, youth club programs, and at the high school level.

ROCKWOOD, YEAR-BY-YEAR

Year W L T Conference

1995 11 8 1 WAC

1996 22 1 0 WAC

1997 19 4 0 WAC

1998 20 5 0 WAC

1999 21 4 0 MWC

2000 19 4 1 MWC

2001 14 7 1 MWC

2002 16 6 0 MWC

2003 10 3 1 MWC

Total 152 42 4 (.830)

BYU club team under Rockwood:

128-25-9 (.790), six years (1989-1994)

ROCKWOOD AMONG COACHING ELITE

Rockwood currently ranks eighth in winning percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches with an impressive 142-39-3 (.780) overall record for her career. Anson Dorrance, John Walker, Chris Petrucelli, Becky Burleigh and Clive Charles are the only coaches ahead of her. Over the last seven seasons, Rockwood has averaged 18.85 wins per year, an average that has her ranked second behind only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina.

Fresh Faces

This season's incoming class of Cougar freshman can be expected to make strong contributions to the team, with five of the nine recruits hailing from Utah.

With the loss of some key defenders from last year's squad, expect freshmen Claire Thomas, and Nicole Jensen to make an immediate impact for BYU.

Jensen was a 2002 All-State selection out of Denver, CO, and Thomas was a 2002 and 2003 Barons All-Tournament Team selection as well as a 2002 second-team All-Palomar athlete, and joins the team at 16 years of age.

Among the Utah athletes headed to BYU is the 5A MVP in 2002 Elizabeth Affleck (redshirting the 2003 season) out of Alta High School and the two-time 4A MVP Courtney Asay from Mountain View High School.

The Cougars' incoming class ranks along side with the best classes the school has ever had. Affleck and Bobbi Tillotson were both members of the 5A State Championship Alta High School, and Asay, Haylee Cuthbert, and Ali Williams all played for the three-time 4A State Championship Mountian View Bruins.

Home Sweet Home

The 2003 regular schedule is set to be one of the best home game schedules in school history. The Cougars will be playing 13 of their 19 regular season games at South Stadium. Highlighting this season's home schedule will be three teams that finished in the 2002 NSCAA top-25: No. 11 Michigan, No. 10 Tennessee, and No. 22 USC. BYU will also host four teams that are ranked in the NSCAA preseason top-25: No. 14 Tennessee, No. 17 Michigan, No. 19 USC and No. 21 Florida.

In the past home field advantage has paid great dividends for the Cougars as the team has amassed an impressive 61-10-1 record at home. In the those games BYU has managed to shut out its opponent 38 times, while losing only four games in a shutout.

Also included in the home schedule is the 1998 NCAA Championship team, Florida, as well as in-state rivals Southern Utah, Weber State, and Utah. The Cougars and Utes will face-off in the final regular season home game for BYU on Nov. 1 at South Stadium.

With seven teams on the regular season schedule that qualified for the 2002 NCAA Tournament, this year's schedule promises to be one of the most competitive seasons for the Cougars who finished No. 23 in the NSCAA final rankings last year and are No. 24 in the NSCAA preseason poll.

Cougars Picked Second in mwc preseason

The Mountain West Conference announced its 2003 preseason poll Monday with the league's coaches selecting BYU to finish second behind Utah.

One point and one vote separated the Cougars and the Utes in the voting, with BYU totaling 33 points and three first place votes, while Utah grabbed 34 points with four first place votes.

For the 2003 season BYU returns eight starters and 11 letterwinners while the Utes return six starters and 14 letterwinners.

MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll

Pl. Team (1st pl. votes) Points

1. Utah (4) 34

2. BYU (3) 33

3. New Mexico 26

4. UNLV 19

5. San Diego State 18

6. Air Force 9

7. Wyoming 8

Four-straight MWC Titles

With a 2-1 win over Utah in the final game of the regular season, BYU ensured itself a fourth-straight MWC Regular Season Championship.

The Cougars first goal of the game came in the 41st minute on a header by sophomore forward/midfielder Kimmie Davis. Senior forward Jeni Willardson-Viernes put BYU up 2-0, scoring her sixth game-winning goal of the season in the 64th minute on a pass from junior All-American Aleisha Cramer-Rose. Utah's only goal came on a penalty kick by Ute forward Shauna Gurr-Bingham.

Going into the MWC Tournament the Cougars earned a first-round bye before defeating San Diego State 9-2 in the second-round. The win advanced BYU to the championship game where they came out on top of New Mexico 5-1, winning their fourth consecutive MWC Championship title.

To date, the Cougars remain the only team in the MWC to ever win the either conference crown.

Injury Update

Senior Aydre Soff tore her meniscus in practice on Sept. 4, and is done for her career. Freshman goalkeeper Meredith Simmons is out for the season due to a torn MCL she suffered in practice Sept. 3 . Sophomore midfielder Brooke Bowman has a sprained MCL and will be out 4-6 weeks.

Practive and Interviews

Practice is held weekdays from 2:15-4:30 on Haws Field. Interviews with Coach Rockwood and/or members of the Cougar soccer team are schedules through the BYU Athletic Media Relations office. To schedule an interview, Please contact Jason Wells at (801) 422-8999 or by

e-mail at soccer_sid@byu.edu.