BYU Cougars Open Women's Soccer Season Hosting Weber State

The 2000 women's soccer season gets under way for the Cougar program this Saturday, August 26 against instate rival Weber State. Kick off is set for 7:00 p.m., at South Field.

Cougars Are Picked To Repeat as MWC Champions

BYU was selected as the favorite to capture its second straight conference title in a vote by the league's coaches.

Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches' Poll

Place Team (1st place votes) Points

1. BYU (5) 35

2. Utah (1) 31

3. San Diego State (1) 27

4. Air Force 21

5. New Mexico 14

6. UNLV 13

7. Wyoming 6

BYU In Pre-Season Polls

• 20th in NSCAA/Adidas Women's NCAA Div. I Rankings

• 19th in Soccer America Poll

• 16th in Soccer Buzz Poll

Cougars 1999 Season Summary

• Record: 21-4

• Won first ever MWC soccer championship by defeating San Diego State 2-1 in overtime in San Diego

• Advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament

• Players Get post- season honors:

Staci Reynolds - NSCAA/Adidas Second Team All-America; NSCAA/Adidas West All-Region First Team

Sara Reading - All-Region Selection

• Finished ranked 20th in the NSCAA/Adidas Women's NCAA Div. I Rankings

BYU Returning Starters To Watch

• 12 Sara Reading - F/MF, Sr (17G, 5A,39 PTS, 102SH)

• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Sr (12G, 9A, 33PTS, 58SH)

• 4 Natalyn Lewis - MF, Sr (4G, 5A, 13PTS, 51SH)

• 11 Sarah Higham - MF, Jr (8G, 9 A, 25PTS, 48SH )

• 21 Staci Reynolds - D, Sr (1G,6A, 8PTS, 20SH )

BYU Newcomers To Watch

• 17 Aleisha Cramer - 5-10 MF, Fr (Lakewood, CO/Green Mountain H.S.)

• 22 Meagan Dickerson - 5-6 F, Fr (Midlothian, VA/Midlothian)

• 14 Annie Hoecherl - 5-10 D, Fr (West Valley City, UT/Skyline)

Cougar '99 Final Quickie Stats

• Averaging 24.3 shots on goal per game

• Averaging 3.0 goals per game

• Average2.8 assists per game

BYU vs Weber State Notes

The Wildcats finished the 1999 season with a 7-11-0 record and 6-1-0 (2nd ) place finish in the Big Sky Conference. Weber State returns nine starters and 11 letterwinners in 2000. The BYU vs Weber State game is the first of the regular season for both teams.

Series Against Weber State University

Record: 4-0 in favor of the Cougars. In last year's game at South Field, BYU defeated Weber State 3-0 with nearly 1,100 soccer fans watching.

Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes

(On the Cougars) I was very pleased with our blue and white scrimmage. The team competed very hard and we know that we have several options that we can use. We'll be deeper with people we can use on the bench. The team is anxious to play a regular team opponent rather than themselves. They've been playing against each other for two weeks.

(On Weber State) We're excited to play Weber State at our season opener. They are a team that always gives a good game, they battles very hard.and will play hard for 90 minutes. Last year they came out and really jumped on us in the first half.

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 takes its first road trip of the season on August 28 as the Cougars travel to Seattle to play Washington and then on to Big Sky Country, with a game against Montana on August 31. BYU's next home game is on Labor Day against Washington State.