Four goals help Cougars into MWC Championship Game

LAS VEGAS (Nov. 6, 2008) Three second half goals secured a 4-0 win for the Cougars over UNLV on Thursday in the semifinals of the 2008 Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. “It was a great night for us,” said head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “The girls have worked hard this season. We’ve been through some ups and downs this season. The team prepared to win. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.” The Cougars kept the pressure on throughout the first half, consistently playing the ball into the UNLV half of the field and outshooting the Rebels 12-2. Freshman forward Lauren Anderson had two close chances in the half, with one shot bouncing off the crossbar of the goal and the other one sailing just to the right of the net. Junior forward Alyssa Vander Veur got the Cougars on the board at the 32:36 mark. A free kick from junior defender Andrea Willis flew right into the box right in front of the keeper and Vander Veur was able to turn to her right and slide the ball past the keeper. Leading 1-0 at the end of the first half, BYU outshot the Rebels 15-3, and had a 2-0 advantage in corner kicks. 19 minutes into the second half, BYU would add the second goal. Senior forward Katie Larkin dribbled the ball from the left-hand side of the field and crossed it into the box. Freshman forward Lauren Anderson fired a shot, which was deflected by an UNLV defender to the feet of junior Ashleigh Jameson, who scored from the top of the box. The goal was Jameson’s first of the season. Later in the second half, freshman forward Jennie Marshall dribbled the ball down the middle of the field and passed the ball ahead to Larkin who pounded the ball into the back of the net with a right-footed shot past UNLV keeper Lugo. The fourth goal came in the 76th minute when Anderson launched a shot from 20 yards out on the right side. Anderson now has five goals on the season. The Cougar defense held UNLV to only five shots and zero shots on goal. “We had great defense,” said Rockwood. The back four stepped up and played a great game.” The win puts the Cougars into the Mountain West Conference tournament championship game for the second straight year. The team will face off against in-state rival Utah, who defeated TCU 2-1 in overtime on Thursday. BYU beat the Utes 5-0 in Salt Lake in their meeting on Oct. 4 earlier this season. The championship game will be played in Las Vegas at 12:00 p.m. A live stat broadcast of the game will be available at http://themwc.cstv.com/champ/soccer-champ-2008.html. The game will be broadcast tape-delayed on the Mtn. at 11:30 p.m. BYU is the reigning MWC Tournament champion, defeating UNLV in Provo, 2-1. The winner of the game on Saturday automatically advances to the NCAA tournament. Cougar soccer fans can join the official Women's Soccer texting group by texting the words "WSOC" to the number 83043. Members of the group will receive reminders about game times, information about ticket discounts and other promotions.