Soccer takes MWC Championship Title

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For the first time since 2002, the BYU women’s soccer team took home the regular season Mountain West Conference Championship title, after a 3-0 against the Air Force Academy on Saturday.

“This was a great confidence-builder for our team,” said BYU women’s soccer head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “Our ability to keep the ball and apply some pressure really helped get us going.”

With two attempts at goal within the first 15 minutes of the game, the Cougars paved the way for a strong first half. Despite both shots being blocked by Falcon’s senior goal keeper, Erin Wallace, BYU continued to apply the pressure, giving Air Force something to work for.

It was not until 30 minutes into the first half that BYU was finally able to get into position. With an assist from teammate Lauren Anderson, BYU junior Kelsea Kakedelas made the first goal of the night, pulling the Cougars to a 1-0 lead.

Keeping up the intensity, BYU continued to push toward the goal to get another point on the scoreboard. There were only 32 seconds remaining in the first half when No. 22, Katie Fellows Hodgkiss took a shot and scored, furthering the Cougar’s lead to 2-0 going into the second half.

Entering the second half the Cougars followed the pattern of the first half, waiting only 13 minutes before scoring. With an assist from junior Ashleigh Jameson, BYU senior Katie Larkin scored, advancing the score to 3-0.

“Katie is a tremendous player,” said Rockwood. “She’s a big reason why this team has been so successful.”

After nine shots by BYU and two from Air Force, the second half proved less eventful than the first with no additional goals after the first fifteen minutes.

After 30 more minutes of back and forth defense, the Cougars came out on top with a victory and a Conference title.

The women’s team plays again on Tuesday night against Weber State. The game will begin at 7 p.m. MST.

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Soccer Box Score (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
                     AF vs BY (Oct 25, 2008 at Provo, Utah)
AF (4-12-0) vs.                                             Goals by period       1  2  Tot
BY (13-5-0)                                                 -------------------------------
Date: Oct 25, 2008  Attendance: 1660                        AF..................  0  0 -  0
Weather:                                                    BY..................  2  1 -  3
AF                                                      BY
Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A               Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A
------------------------------------------              ------------------------------------------
GK  1  WALLACE, Erin.......   -   -  -  -               GK  32 OLSON, McKinzie.....   -   -  -  -
D   2  NAIL, Shannon.......   -   -  -  -               F   3  ANDERSON, Lauren....   4   1  -  1
MF  4  YADLIN, Roni........   -   -  -  -               D   4  COOK, Karen.........   1   -  -  1
F   5  FINCH, Susan........   -   -  -  -               MF  5  FELLER, Whitney.....   -   -  -  -
F   7  MURPHY, Bridgett....   -   -  -  -               D   9  DRAEGER, Amanda.....   -   -  -  -
F   10 BIEBER, Kelly.......   -   -  -  -               D   10 CARTER, Jessica.....   -   -  -  -
D   11 SHANKLIN, Krystin...   1   -  -  -               D   11 WILLIS, Andrea......   1   -  -  -
D   14 SIKORA, Ashley......   -   -  -  -               MF  15 KAKADELAS, Kelsea...   1   1  1  -
D   15 WOLVERTON, Kristen..   -   -  -  -               MF  16 JANIS, Auna.........   1   1  -  -
D   19 SIKORA, Amber.......   -   -  -  -               F   18 LARKIN, Katie.......   6   3  1  -
D   20 WILSON, Cassie......   -   -  -  -               F   21 CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy   2   2  -  -
     ---------- Substitutes ----------                       ---------- Substitutes ----------
    3  WATTS, Heather......   -   -  -  -                   1  SHELTON, Aleena.....   -   -  -  -
    12 EISSELE, Meagan.....   -   -  -  -                   2  OLDROYD, Dana.......   -   -  -  -
    16 NEPTUNE, Ali........   -   -  -  -                   6  RICHARDSON, Megan...   -   -  -  -
    22 CONNELL, Kristen....   -   -  -  -                   7  MARSHALL, Jennie....   -   -  -  -
    23 TUNG, Kalyn.........   1   -  -  -                   8  NELSON, Rachel......   -   -  -  -
    24 ARADINE, Sharon.....   -   -  -  -                   12 RIDDLE, Becca.......   3   2  -  -
    25 ATKINS, Danielle....   -   -  -  -                   14 JAMESON, Ashleigh...   1   -  -  1
    26 26..................   -   -  -  -                   19 ERNST, Nicole.......   -   -  -  -
       Totals..............   2   0  0  0                   20 DOW-JACKSON, Kristi.   -   -  -  -
                                                            22 HODGKISS, Katie.....   2   1  1  -
                                                            23 VANDER Veur, Alyssa.   1   -  -  -
                                                            25 URRY, Nicole........   -   -  -  -
                                                               Totals..............  23  11  3  3
AF                                                      BY
## Player                 MIN  GA Saves                 ## Player                 MIN  GA Saves
---------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------
1  WALLACE, Erin.......  90:00  3     7                 32 OLSON, McKinzie.....  58:27  0     0
TM TEAM................   0:00  0     1                 1  SHELTON, Aleena.....  31:33  0     0
                                                        TM TEAM................   0:00  0     0
Shots by period       1  2  Tot                         Saves by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
AF..................  0  2 -  2                         AF..................  6  2 -  8
BY.................. 14  9 - 23                         BY..................  0  0 -  0
Corner kicks          1  2  Tot                         Fouls                 1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
AF..................  0  1 -  1                         AF..................  2  2 -  4
BY..................  4  3 -  7                         BY..................  3  2 -  5
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                                  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   21:35 BY       KAKADELAS, Kelsea (1)    ANDERSON, Lauren
 2.   44:29 BY       HODGKISS, Katie (4)      (unassisted)
 3.   56:10 BY       LARKIN, Katie (8)        COOK, Karen; JAMESON, Ashleigh
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
Officials:
Offsides: AF 0, BY 7.