Weekly Release #10 - The Final Countdown

The Final Countdown

After defeating league leading Wyoming 5-1, the No. 16 BYU women's soccer will be looking to close out the 2003 regular season with a conference win as they battle No. 14 Utah for the Mountain West Conference regular season crown.

Saturday's match between the Utes and Cougars will be televised live on KBYU and BYUTV starting at 7:00 p.m. and will also be carried live on the Internet via BYUTV.org.

The Cougars (12-4-2, 4-1-0) traveld to Honolulu for a Monday night matchup against the Rainbow Wahine (13-4-2, 7-1-0) who finished the regular season behind SMU for second-place in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Cougars and Wahine played to a 2-2 double overtime draw, marking the second time this season BYU has fought to a double overtime finish with the first game of the season ending in a 0-0 finish with then No. 17 Michigan.

After facing Hawaii the Cougars returned home to close out the season on Saturday with a conference home game against in-state rival No. 14 Utah (14-2-0, 5-0-0) who is in sole possession of first place in the MWC.

Saturday's game caries with it the regular season Mountain West Conference title and a first-round bye in the MWC Tournament as the Cougars would own the tie-breaker over the Utes if they were to win.

BYU lost for the first time in school history to Utah last season when the Utes defeated the Cougars 2-3 in overtime during the NCAA Tournament.

Dating back to the first meeting between the two schools in 1995, the Cougars own a 12-1 overall record against the Utes where BYU has outscored Utah 37-15 in those meetings.

Kickoff for the Utes and Cougars is set for 7:00 p.m. (MDT)) on Saturday, Nov. 1, at South Stadium in Provo.

The Last Time

BYU shutout Hawaii in a home game at South Stadium on Oct. 9, 1998, by a score of 7-0, in the third meeting between the two schools. Sarah Reading got the Cougars started as she scored the first goal of the game with a header in the ninth minute. Two minutes later Shauna Rohbock scored to put BYU up 2-0. Rohbock struck again in the 15th minute as she took a Maren Hendershot pass and sent the ball through the pipes for the 3-0 lead. The Cougars didn't score again until the second period when Hendershot came up with her own goal one minute into the period. Rohbock earned herself a hat-trick as scored for the third time on the night this time with a header of a corner kick. With BYU up 5-0 Amber Anderson increased the Cougar lead with two minutes remaining when she took a pass from Kim Lowe and sent the ball rocketing into the goal. In the final second of the game, Lowe drove past a couple Hawaii defenders and nailed the final goal of the game giving the Cougars the 7-0 win.

The Utes recorded their first win in history over BYU when they defeated the Cougars 3-2 in overtime in the first-round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Utah struck first at the 35:10 mark when Missy Dennis chipped a shot over BYU's keeper Mandy Gott to give the Utes a 1-0 lead. Shauna Gurr-Bingham notched the assist for Utah. BYU answered with less than two minutes left in the first period when All-American Aleisha Cramer-Rose fired a shot from 25 yards out that glanced off a Ute defender and past Utah keeper Lynnsey Asay. Utah's Dennis contributed again late in the second half as she fed Katie Tate whose shot then found the upper-left corner of the net to put Utah up 2-1. The Cougars fought back with a flurry of shots and offensive pressure in the last 15 minutes of regulation and were rewarded as Cramer-Rose lofted a free kick deep into the Utah box, Asay rose grabbed the ball but lost control as she attempted to gather the kick and Jenni Viernes then kneed the ball into the net with only 12 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. With a little over one minute left in the first overtime, Utah's Megan Maxwell placed a high arching shot over Cougar Gott for the win.

Scouting Report: Hawaii & Utah

On the season Hawaii has outscored its opponents 28-16 while out shooting them 315-246. The Wahine have averaged 2.7 goals per game and held opponents to a mere 0.9 goals. Natasha Kai has become the most dominant scorer in the WAC and has more goals than any other player in the NCAA with 27 strikes on the season, ranking her second in goals per game with an average of 1.59 scores per game. Arlene Devitt is second on the Wahine with seven goals and six assists on the year, while both Robyn deHay and Kalena Eaton have each recorded three strikes. deHay has also dished out a team high seven assists this season. Keeper Mahie Atay has given up 13 goals in 1227:00 for a GAA of 0.95 in 16 games. Atay has also tallied five shutouts on the year and earned the WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after Fresno State and San Jose State last week.

Utah is enjoying its best season in school history as the team is riding a four-game winning streak. The Utes sit atop the MWC with a conference record of 5-0-0. In the MWC, Utah ranks along side BYU for the top-two position in all statistical categories. Amber Brower leads the Utes with eight goals and three assists on the season. Lauren Field has contributed seven goals in 11 games as a recent heart condition has kept her sidelined for four of the team's games. Utah's three-forward offense has tallied 33 goals on the year for an average of 2.18 goals per game while giving up only 9 goals on the year. Keepers Ashley Mason and Kaycie Zimmerman have split time in the box while recording six shutouts between them and a total of eight on the year for the team. Mason and Zimmerman have combined for a 0.59 GAA against opponents.

The Hawaiian Way

Monday's meeting between BYU and Hawaii will be the fourth meeting between the two schools. The Cougars own a 3-0 all-time record against the Wahine and have refused to allow a single goal against Hawaii in those meetings, while scoring 17 goals of their own for an average of 5.67 goals per game.

Bigelow On the Move

Senior Terra Bigelow has provided a much of the Cougar offense over the past month. Dating back to Sept. 23 against Gonzaga, Bigelow has scored a goal or dished out an assist in seven of the last nine games. She currently leads the team with seven goals on the year.

200 And Still Going

On Oct. 18, 2003, head coach Jennifer Rockwood coached her 200th career game as the Cougars traveled to Las Vegas to play UNLV, and came away with a 3-2 win. 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

On 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

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 the late 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.

Facing Overtime

On the season the Cougars have entered into extra time in four seperate games this season. The Cougars have been unable to gain the advantage in those games recording a 0-2-2 record in overtime. Both loses came in 2-3 finishes.

BYU Statistc Break Down

BYU currently rank in the top three in every statistical category in the MWC this season. The Cougars are averaging 25.20 shots per game and 3.4 goals per contest, both categories are tops in the conference. Senior Terra Bigelow has scored a goal in four out of five conference games and is tied for first-place in the MWC for total goals and second in goals per game with a 0.80 average. Bigelow is also the team's leading scorer with seven goals on the year. Senior Aleisha Rose isn't far behind with three goals against conference foes, ranking her third in total goals and fourth in goals per game. Rose is the conference leader in assists with 10 assists and her 20 points on the year has her tied for first in the conference. With the game on the line, nobody has come up bigger for the Cougars than freshman Annie Zwahlen who is second in the conference for game-winning goals. Her three game winners have included the winning goals against No. 7 Tennessee and No. 14 USC. Goalkeeper Ashley Smith has 4 shutouts on the year while the Cougar team has the second most in the MWC with seven on the year.

Four-Time MWC Champions

Since the inception of the MWC in 1999, the Cougars have dominated the conference championships winning both the regular season and tournament championship titles. The Cougars have been dominant in conference play with a regular season MWC record of 25-3 and an undefeated MWC Championship record of 9-0. Coming into the final regular-season game of 2003, the Cougars have an all-time MWC combined record of 34-3.

NCAA Tournanament

Since BYU became a Div. I program back in 1995, the team has become a constant figure in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars have recorded six-consecutive appearances in the post season from 1997-2002. In 1998 BYU made its first appearance in the Sweet 16 after defeating UCLA in Los Angeles 2-0. The following year the team did it again as the Cougars blanked California 2-0 to once again advance to the Sweet 16. In 2000 and 2001 BYU earned first-round byes to the invitational. Last year the Cougars lost in the first-round of the tournament to MWC and in-state rival Utah in a 2-3 overtime loss. It was the first time since 1997 when Santa Clara defeated BYU 1-0, that the Cougars had made a first-round exit in the tournament. Over the six appearances in the post season the Cougars have amassed a 5-6 overall record while recording 19 goals and allowing 15.

Last Week's Game: Wyoming

In the race for the Mountain West Conference crown, the No. 20 BYU took another step forward as BYU knocked off first-place Wyoming by a score of 5-1 on Thursday night in Provo. From the first whistle the Cougars came out and dominated the field, refusing to allow the Cowgirls near the goal as BYU out shot Wyoming 13-2 in the first period. Senior All-American and Hermann Trophy candidate Aleisha Rose got the Cougars off to a 1-0 start when her shot from 18 yards out on the left side zipped past Wyoming keeper and MWC Defender of the Week Lori Scheider, on 6:27 into the game. Less than two minutes later BYU scored again, this time it was senior Terra Bigelow finding senior Jennifer Fielding in front of the box who sneaked the ball past Scheider for the 2-0 lead. In the 36th minute, Bigelow pushed the Cougar lead to 3-0 as she took the ball into the center of the box and smacked it through the pipes for her team-leading seventh goal of the year. Before the end of the period Wyoming got their second shot of the night off and this one found the back of the Cougar net as Kristen Stangl ended the Cougars' bid for their eighth shutout of the season. Not much changed in the game in the second period with BYU controlling the ball on possession and refusing to let up on defense, as the Cougars finished the game out shooting the Cowgirls 28-3. Sophomore Jaime Rendich punched another goal in for the Cougars in the 57th minute after senior Krissa Campbell's shot ricocheted off the right post back into the box and Rendich was there to fire in the rebound and increase BYU's lead to 4-1. The final goal of the game belonged to senior Lydia Ojuka who fired in a shot from 15 yards out to seal the win for the Cougars with a 5-1 victory.

MWC Team Standings

Conference Overall

Team (Rk.) W L T Pct W L T Pct

Utah (17)............. 5 0 0 1.000 14 2 0 .875

BYU................. 4 1 0 .800 12 4 2 .722

Wyoming............. 4 2 0 .667 9 8 0 .529

San Diego State 2 2 1 .500 7 8 2 .471

New Mexico 1 3 1 .300 2 9 4 .267

UNLV 1 4 0 .200 7 9 2 .444

Air Force.. 0 5 0 .000 6 10 1 .382

2003 Highs And Lows

Cat. High Last Time (times) Low Last Time (times)

Goals 5 Oct. 23 v. Wyo(3) 0 Oct. 16 at SDSU (3)

Assists 6 Sept. 8 v. SUU (1) 0 Oct. 16 at SDSU (3)

Shots 30 Oct. 18 at UNLV (1) 8 Sept. 26 v. #2 Florida(1)

Points 16 Sept. 8 v. SUU (1) 0 Oct. 16 at SDSU (3)

Corners 14 Sept. 8 v. SUU (1) 0 Oct. 3 v. #14 USC (1)

Fouls 17 Aug. 29 v. #17 Mich(1) 8 Oct. 23 v. Wyo(1)

Saves 6 Oct. 18 at UNLV (3) 0 Oct. 16 at SDSU(1)

GA 3 Sept. 26 v. #2 Florida (2) 0 Oct. 11 v. Air Force(7)

Tops of the NCAA

Category No. Name Actual

Assists in one game 2 Aleisha Rose 4

Assists per game 23 Aleisha Rose 0.56/game

Tops of the Mountain West

Overall

Category No. Name Actual

Shots/game 1 BYU 19.24/game

Points/game 1 BYU 6.82/game

Goals 1 BYU 41 total

Goals/game 1 BYU 2.41/game

Assists T-1 BYU 34 total

Assists/game 2 BYU 2.00/game

GAA 1 BYU 0.86/game

GA 2 BYU 15 total

Shutout percentage T-2 BYU 0.41 /game

Corners/game 1 BYU 7.41/game

Attendance 1 BYU 1,251/game

Home Attendance 1 BYU 1,560/game

Away Attendance 1 BYU 612/game

Individual No. Name Actual

Shots/game T-1 Lydia Ojuka 3.00/game

4 Aleisha Rose 2.71/game

Points 1 Aleisha Rose 20 total

Points/game 3 Aleisha Rose 1.11/game

Goals T-3 Terra Bigelow 7 total

Goals/game 5 Terra Bigelow 0.41/game

Game-winning goals 3 Annie Zwahlen 3 total

T-4 Lydia Ojuka 2 total

T-4 Jaime Rendich 2 total

T-4 Jennifer Fielding 2 total

Assists 1 Aleisha Rose 10 total

Assists/game 1 Aleisha Rose 0.55/game

Assists in one game 1 Aleisha Rose 4 total

Shutouts 5 Ashley Smith 4 total

Shutout per game 6 Ashley Smith 0.31/game

GAA 2 Ashley Smith 0.82 in 992:22

Conference

Category No. Name Actual

Shots/game 1 BYU 25.20/game

Points/game 1 BYU 8.20/game

Goals 1 BYU 17 total

Goals/game 1 BYU 3.40/game

Assists 2 BYU 7 total

Assists/game 2 BYU 1.40/game

GAA 5 BYU 1.00/game

GA 2 BYU 5 total

Shutout percentage 5 BYU 0.20 /game

Corners/game 2 BYU 6.00/game

Attendance 2 BYU 889/game

Home Attendance 2 BYU 1,197/game

Away Attendance 6 BYU 426/game

Individual No. Name Actual

Shots 1 Jennifer Fielding 21 total

2 Krissa Campbell 20 total

5 Lydia Ojuka 17 total

Shots/game 1 Jennifer Fielding 4.20/game

2 Krissa Campbell 4.00/game

5 Lydia Ojuka 3.40/game

Points T-1 Terra Bigelow 9 total

T-4 Aleisha Rose 6 total

Points/game T-2 Terra Bigelow 1.80/game

Goals T-1 Terra Bigelow 4 total

T-3 Aleisha Rose 3 total

Goals/game T-1 Terra Bigelow 0.80/game

4 Aleisha Rose 0.60/game

Game-winning goals T-2 Annie Zwahlen 1 total

T-2 Jennifer Fielding 1 total

GAA 3 Natalie Evans 1.13 in 239:58

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

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.

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 12 4 2 MWC

Total 154 43 5 (.783)

BYU club team under Rockwood:

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

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.

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.

FUTURE BYU SCHEDULES

2004 Opponent

Aug. 20, 2004 Boise State

Sept. 6, 2004 at USC

Sept. 13 Georgia Tech

Sept. 20 Stanford

Nov. 15 at Notre Dame

2005

Sept. 4 USC

Sept. 18 at Stanford

Sept. 25 at Boise State

Oct. 30 Notre Dame

Future Non-Conference Opponents

UCLA, Arizona, Washington and Florida State

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 redshirting the remainder of the season.

Practice 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.