CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' FOR WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM
The BYU women's soccer team (2-3-0) will face two California teams this week as it attempts to rebound from Saturday's 2-0 loss to Idaho State.
Cal State Northridge (1-4-0) comes to Provo Thursday at 7 p.m. after suffering losses to San Diego and North Carolina State last week. BYU holds a 2-0 series lead over the Matadors, the last meeing occuring in 1996 when the Cougars defeated Northridge 1-0 en route to a 22-1-0 season record.
BYU heads for Southern California on Saturday to face USC, ranked No. 20 by Soccer America, at 1 p.m. in Los Angeles. The Trojans lost to No. 13 Wake Forest 2-1 on Sept. 15 to fall to 2-3-1. BYU has a 1-2-1 series record against USC, having never defeated the Trojans outside of Provo. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a 1-0 loss for the Cougars in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 1998.
UP NEXT
BYU continues its California theme next week as it again travels to Southern California to face UCLA Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. The Bruins (2-1-0) are currently ranked No. 3 in the NSCAA/adidas Top 25 national poll.
St. Mary's comes to Provo Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
COACH ROCKWOOD COMMENTS
Rockwood on the team's status: "We've got to compete harder every day in practice. We're not intense enough. It's much different in a game setting, so we have to try and train in a game setting."
"Monday (Sept. 16) was the best practice we've had in a couple of weeks. We had a great preseason of practices but have fallen off the last couple of weeks."
Rockwood on the Idaho State game: "We were not dangerous offensively. In the second half, they had two shots and scored. We had 12 shots and didn't score."
2002 OFF TO ROCKY START FOR YOUNG COUGARS
A young team and the toughest schedule in BYU women's soccer history are contributing factors to the team's 2-3-0 start, the worst in team history. The Cougars opened the season playing three ranked opponents, defeating then No. 3 Portland before falling to currently ranked No. 14 Michigan and then No. 18 Kentucky.
BYU's schedule does not get any easier, either, with games against No. 20 USC and No. 4 UCLA still looming. St. Mary's is no slouch either, coming off a 15-3-2 season a year ago and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA College Cup. Then there's Washington State, which is 5-0 for the first time in its program's history.
In past seasons, BYU has made a habit of winning early. In five of its last eight seasons, the Cougars have posted 5-0 records in their first five games. Following is a breakdown of BYU's record through five games since becoming a Division I team in 1995.
YEARRECORD
19953-2-0
19965-0-0
19975-0-0
19985-0-0
19995-0-0
20004-1-0
20013-1-1
20022-3-0
SCOUTING CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
A tough stretch of games in San Diego saw the Matadors lose three straight over a period of eight days. Cal State lost a heartbreaker to SDSU Sept. 4 when the Aztecs scored the game-winning goal with only four seconds remaining in regulation.
North Carolina State then beat CSUN 4-0 on Sept. 8, and the University of San Diego defeated the Matadors 3-1 Sept. 11 to bring Cal State's record to 1-4-0.
Senior midfielder Melissa Cleal leads Cal State with three points off of one goal and an assist. In their five games, the Matadors have been outscored 10-3 and out-shot 78-44.
SCOUTING USC
An incredibly tough early schedule has tested the Women of Troy, but they have responded well. Four of their first six opponents have been ranked in the top five nationally.
The Trojans lost to No. 1 North Carolina 2-0 on Sept. 1, then beat No. 5 Penn State 1-0 five days later. USC then took No. 2 Virginia to a double overtime that ended in a 0-0 tie. A 2-1 loss to No. 13 Wake Forest on Sept. 15 ended the Trojans streak of playing ranked opponents, a streak that earned them a No. 20 ranking by Soccer America.
USC is led by senior midfielder Ali Fennell who has four points on two goals. The Trojans have only scored four goals in six games, but USC's strong defense has only allowed five goals all season.
COUGARS OUT-SHOOT IDAHO STATE 17-6 IN LOSING EFFORT
PROVO -- Despite out-shooting Idaho State 12-2 in the second half and 17-6 for the game, the BYU women's soccer team fell 2-0 to the Bengals Saturday night in Provo.
"ISU came out more ready than we did and they came after it more than we did," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood.
The Bengals' (4-2-0) first goal came in the 14th minute when ISU's Stacey Peterson looped the ball over Cougar keeper Mandy Gott into the left side of the net to give the Bengals a 1-0 lead. Peterson had just missed a minute earlier when a similar shot clanged off the left post and away from the goal.
"We gave up a bad goal and it gave them confidence," Rockwood said. "The last three games we've played we have gotten off to a horrible start."
The second goal for the Bengals came in the 58th minute when Ilsa Gramer's header off a corner kick found the back of the net.
2002 SCHEDULE PITS COUGARS AGAINST NATION'S BEST
The 2002 BYU women's soccer team opens the season playing its first three games against teams that participated in last year's NCAA Women's Soccer College Cup.
The University of Portland opened the Cougars' season at South Field on August 30, losing 2-1 to BYU. Then BYU traveled to Wolverine country to take on Michigan in Ann Arbor, losing 2-1. No. 18 Kentucky defeated the Cougars 2-0 in Provo, while St. Mary's will make first-ever appearances at South Field on Sept. 6 and Sept. 27.
BYU will have to battle its remaining NCAA tournament participants on the road with a trip to Los Angeles for matchups against USC and UCLA and to South Bend for a first-ever meeting with Notre Dame.
The Cougar team spends the first three weeks of October on the road, returning to South Field on Oct. 24. The team's itinerary includes trips to Washington, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
In MWC action, the Cougars will spend most of conference play on the road, hosting only UNLV and San Diego State. But beginning November 6, by virtue of winning last year's Championships in Las Vegas, BYU hosts this year's Mountain West Conference Championships with the title game scheduled for Sat., Nov. 9. The MWC champion gets an automatic bid into the 2002 NCAA Women's College Cup Championships which begin on Nov. 13.
COUGARS GRAB THIRD CONSECUTIVE MWC TITLE
Complete dominance is the best way to describe BYU's stranglehold on the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars have won both the regular season and tournament titles in the MWC in each of the last three years. After taking care of business during the regular season, going 17-2 in three years of MWC conference play, BYU proved to be the real deal by winning the conference tournament as well.
The streak began in 1999, when BYU posted a 2-1 victory over San Diego State University to win the tournament title. In 2000, the Cougars beat Utah 6-1 to again claim the title. Last year, UNLV became the next victim in BYU's incredible run, losing 2-1 to the Cougars in the MWC tournament championship game.
For the 2002 season, the conference coaches also voted the Cougars to win the regular season and championship crown.
CREAM OF THE CROP
The nine new freshmen players set to kick off their soccer collegiate years at BYU this fall were recently ranked the 17th best recruiting class in the nation by Soccer Buzz Magazine. That's the highest ranking ever for an incoming class in the program's history. BYU also finished fifth in the West Region behind UCLA, Arizona State, Stanford and California.
All-Americans Brooke Bowman (Plano, TX) and Jennifer Henry Fielding (Pasco, WA) are two of the highly touted players. Bowman and Fielding will add more strength and depth to BYU's team along with the other seven very experienced and accomplished freshmen.
Jamie Rendich and Brooke Thulin, from Southern California have trained and played in one of the country's most talented pools of players. Their So. Cal Blues club is considered one of the top youth clubs in the country with a National Youth Championship to prove it. They have also both represented Southern California on their State ODP team and on the Region IV ODP team.
Two of the Utah recruits, Ashley Smith and Natalie Evans, along with sophomore keeper Amanda Gott, will be vying for the starting goalkeeper spot.
SOUTH FIELD
South Field, home to the Cougars since 1995, is a tough place to steal a victory. In seven seasons, BYU has posted a 52-8-1 (.852) record on their home grass. At one point, the Cougars had a three-year win streak in Provo, from Sept. 30, 1995 to Sept. 6, 1998.
BYU's home field advantage is enhanced by the presence of a large and vocal Cougar crowd. Attendance at South Field consistently ranks among the best in the nation. Last year, BYU ranked 12th among national attendance leaders with an average of 1,087 fans filling the seats at South Field.
THE ROCKWOOD FILE
Jennifer Rockwood begins her eighth season at the helm of BYU's women's soccer program. In six years she has guided her team to four conference championships and five straight appearances in the NCAA Championships, beginning with the 1997 season. The Cougars have had two "Sweet Sixteen" finishes: in 1998 and in 2000, both times losing to Santa Clara. Last year the BYU team lost to Nebraska in Second Round action. Her many honors include two Coach of the Year honors by the WAC in 1996 and in 2000 by the MWC.
Under Rockwood's tutelage, a long list of All-American soccer players have emerged from BYU's program. Among them are two that are current players of the newly organized Women's United Soccer Association. Maren Hendershot plays for the San Jose Cyberrays and Shauna Rohbock with the San Diego Spirit. Other noteworthy All-Americans include Aleisha Cramer Rose, Staci Reynolds and Michelle Peterson.
During the 2000 season, she became the first MWC coach to eclipse the 100-win total on Sept. 23 with a 2-0 victory over Milwaukee-Wisconsin. Entering the 2000 season, coach Rockwood was ranked fifth among active coaches by winning percentage. She has averaged 18.6 wins per season over the past five years, which ranks second behind only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina for wins per season. Dorrance has won an average of 22.2 matches per season.
Prior to becoming the head coach, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team for six years. In her final two years, she took her teams to first place in the Western National Collegiate Club Soccer Association (NCCSA) championships and to second place in the NCCSA national championships.
The Lake Oswego, Oregon, native was a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball and track. After one year at Ricks College on a basketball scholarship, she transferred to BYU and was four-year starter at center midfield on the Cougars' club team.
Rockwood has also coached in the Utah ODP , the youth club's and high school levels.
ROCKWOOD, YEAR-BY-YEAR
YearW LTConference
199511 81WAC
199622 10WAC
199719 40WAC
199820 50WAC
199921 40MWC
200019 41MWC
200114 71MWC
20021 10MWC
127343(.774)
BYU club team under Rockwood:
128-25-9 (.790), six years (1989-1994)
COUGARS LOVE COUGARS
Several members of the Cougars' soccer team have married members of BYU's other athletic teams. Junior defender Farrah Hofheins-Olmstead is married to Shawn Olmstead, a member of BYU's volleyball team. Terra Smith-Bigelow stole the heart of Mark Bigelow, a star on BYU's basketball team. Senior Jeni Willardson-Viernes likes to kick it around with husband Spencer, who is on the men's soccer club team at BYU. Also of note, freshman midfilder/defender Brooke Thulin has a brother, J.R., who is an offensive lineman for the football team.
DEFENSE GARNERS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
BYU's ability to shutout its opponents is among the best at the national level. The Cougars tied for 18th nationally in shutouts per game last year, holding opponents scoreless in 11 of 22 games for a 0.50 average. BYU has posted three seasons with 11 shutouts (1998, 1999, 2001), while the Cougars' 1996 team holds the school record at 12.
BYU TO HOST 2002 MWC TOURNAMENT
The Cougars will play host to the 2002 Mountain West Conference Championships Nov. 6-9 at South Field in Provo. The following is a breakdown of the three-day tournament. The winner of the Championship receives an automatic bid into the 2002 NCAA Women's College Cup Championships which begin Nov. 13.
OPENING ROUND: Wednesday, Nov. 6
Game 1: No. 4 seed vs. No. 5
Game 2: No. 2 seed vs. No. 7
Game 3: No. 3 seed vs. No. 6
*The No. 1 seed receives a first-round bye.
SEMIFINALS: Thursday, Nov. 7
Game 4: No. 1 seed vs. Game 1 winner
Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
FINALS: Saturday, Nov. 9
Championship game between semifinals winners.