With more MWC wins, BYU's women's soccer team returns home for its two final conference games of the year with games against Wyoming and Air Force on October 21 and 23.
Cougars In This Week's Polls
• In Soccer America Poll - Out of top 20
• Ranked 26th by the NSCAA
BYU Returning Starters To Watch
• 20 Maren Hendershot - F, Sr (10G, 8A, 28PTS, 54SH)
• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Jr (8G, 6A, 22PTS, 37SH)
• 12 Sara Reading - MF, Jr (9G, 1A, 19PTS, 66SH)
• 11 Sarah Higham - MF, So (7G, 8A, 22PTS, 32SH )
• 4 Natalyn Lewis - MF, Jr (4G, 4A, 12PTS, 34SH)
• 14 Karen Wunderli- MF, Sr (2G, 6A, 10PTS, 29SH)
BYU Newcomers To Watch
• 5 Rachelle Dixon - 5-6 MF/F, Fr (Bountiful, UT/Bountiful)
• 18 Jeni Willardson - 5-9 MF/F, Fr (5G, 2A, 12PTS, 26SH)
Cougar Season Highs To Date
• Most goals in a game (team) - eight against Northwestern on 9/4
• Most shots in game (team) - 40 vs University of New Mexico on 10/8
• Most corner kicks in a game (team) - eight vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee 9/9
• Most goals in a game (individual- Sara Reading) - three vs University of New Mexico on 10/8
Cougar '99 Quickie Stats After 17 Games
• Averaging 23.5 shots on goal per game
• Averaging 3.1 goals per game
• Average 2.8 assists per game
BYU vs Wyoming Notes
Wyoming is currently 3-11, 1-3 on the year with five returning starters. Coach Anne Moore begins her season with the Cowgirls. Junior forward Kelly McShane leads Wyoming in scoring with five goals and one assists for her 11 points. Sarah Stephens has seven points from two goals and three assists on the year. The Cowgirls are averaging 12.1 shots on goal and 1.0 goals per game.
Series Against Wyoming
The series: 3-0 in favor of the Cougars. These two teams met last in 1996 with BYU picking up a 12-0 shutout over Wyoming. The 12 goals in that game are still a school and team record.
BYU vs Air Force Notes
The Air Force Academy will be making its second trip to Provo this Saturday night. The Falcons are 3-1 in conference play and 8-7 overall. The Air Force team has 10 starters back this season. Toping the list of scorers for the Falcons are Kari James with 12 points from five goals and two assists while teammate Becky Wyfells has four goals and three assists for her 11 points. Air Force's lone lost in conference play is to San Diego State. The Falcons lost 0-2 in Fort Collins.
Series Against Air Force
The series record: 1-0 in favor of the Cougars. In the teams earlier contest back in 1996, BYU picked up a 4-0 victory in Provo over the Air Force.
Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes
(On the Cougars) We had a very disappointing loss to San Diego this past weekend. We've struggled against the Aztecs every year and this game was no different. We had opportunities to score and we didn't convert. That is something we've learned the hard way this year. In our other two losses, we also had opportunities to score and were not able to. We need to have leadership from our upper class players and we didn't get it this weekend. Sarah Higham really stepped up for us in the San Diego State game. We have to regroup and get ready to play. Right now we have a sense of urgency with four more guaranteed games to play this season, (three regular season and at least one MWC championship game). It will be a test to see what we're made of.
(On opponents) Air Force and Wyoming will be tough games for us. These two games are very important because we are in a must win situation. The records of each of these two teams will not matter, because we're setting up for the upcoming MWC Championships. We have to be able to convert on our chances.
BYU Media Information
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 has one more regular season game on Thursday, October 28 against Long Beach State. That game will be played on the BYU campus at South Field with a 6 p.m., kick-off. The Cougars then will prepare for the first MWC soccer championships in San Diego, California, beginning November 3.