First Road Trip of 2003
PROVO -- For the first time this season, the No. 12 Cougars (3-0-1) are traveling away from South Stadium as they head to the University of Kentucky, to participate in the Kentucky Invitational to be held at the UK Soccer Complex.
BYU is set to play two games in the tournament as they square off against No. 14 Kentucky (2-1-1) on Friday and then face Iowa (1-3-0) on Saturday.
The Cougars and the Wildcats met for the first time last season as Kentucky handed BYU its second loss of the year with a 2-0 win at the Cougars' South Stadium. For the Hawkeyes and the Cougars it will be the first meeting between the two schools.
In their most recent game, the Cougars routed the T-Birds of Southern Utah in a 5-0 win to record their fourth-straight shutout of the year. Senior All-American Aleisha Rose recorded four assists in the game, setting a new school and South Stadium record.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2-2 finish with No. 6 Duke and was handed their only loss of the season by No. 1 North Carolina. Iowa lost 2-1 to Creighton on Sunday recording their third loss of the season.
BYU kicks off with Kentucky on Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) and then on Sept. 13 at 5:00 p.m. (EDT) against Iowa.
The Last Time
Playing at South Stadium last year, the Cougars and Wildcats met for the first time in the third game of the 2002 season for the Cougars. The Wildcats scored their first goal in the 15th minute when a misdirected header by one of the Cougars ended up under the control of Kentucky midfielder Elizabeth Ramsey. The Wildcat junior fired a shot into the right bottom corner of the net, deflecting off BYU keeper Mandy Gott's hands. The teams entered the half with Kentucky up 1-0 and tied at four apiece. Ramsey again found the net at 56:43 off a penalty shot she placed in the upper right-hand corner of the net. The Wildcats went on to win 2-0.
Thomas Receives National and Conference Honors
Freshman defender Claire Thomas was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week and was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Cougars to their third shutout in three games as BYU defeated No. 7 Tennessee.
Thomas, who was also named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week, was instrumental in the Cougars' win as she managed to shut down the top three players from Tennessee: Lyndsey Patterson, the team's leading scorer; Rhian Wilkinson, a Canadian National Team member; and Keeley Dowling, a preseason All-American and Hermann Trophy candidate. Thanks in large part to Thomas' stingy defense, the three stars from Tennessee were held to a total of five shots and one shot on goal in the game.
This is the second time in two years that a BYU player has been named to the Soccer America Team of the Week.
Scouting The Opponents
The Wildcats enter the Friday's game with a 2-1-1 record that includes a 6-0 win over Davidson University, a 4-1 win over Western Kentucky, a 0-4 loss to North Carolina and a 2-2 tie with Duke. This season, Kentucky is averaging 2.84 goals per game, 16.8 shots per game, and has allowed seven goals in four games. Senior Elizabeth Ramsey leads the Cats with three goals and two assists, while junior Jessica Laswell has recorded two assists and two goals with only two shots on the season.
Iowa has dropped three of its last four contests to start the season. The Hawkeyes have recorded an impressive 41 saves this season, but are being out shot 98-41, resulting in a two goal per game advantage for their opponents. The team has a combined five goals and three assists on the year, while allowing eight. Katelyn Quinn leads the team with two goals and Britta Vogele has recorded 39 saves over 337:24 minutes.
Last Game: Southern Utah University
Behind the offensive firepower of senior All-American Aleisha Rose, the No. 12 Cougars recorded their fourth shutout in as many games with a 5-0 win over Southern Utah University Monday night. Rose set a new school and South Stadium record for most assists in a single game, surpassing the previous mark of three.
The Cougars started out the game a little slow, but picked up the tempo towards the end of the first period. Senior Jennifer Fielding was the first Cougar to score as she headed in the ball off a pass from senior Lydia Ojuka. Ojuka then followed her assist with a goal of her own and Rose was credited with her first assist of the night. It took BYU less than two minutes to put in its third goal of the night this time coming off a corner kick by Rose to freshman Nicole Jensen. In the second half the Cougars and T-Birds continued to battle as Rose found senior Terra Bigelow in the 53rd minute. With time running down freshman Bobbi Tillotson finished the scoring for the Cougars with the first goal of her collegiate career and freshman Annie Zwahlen and Rose were credited with the assists, and Rose set the new record.
New Assist Record Set
Senior All-American Aleisha Rose tallied four assists against Southern Utah, setting a new BYU school record and South Stadium record for most assists in a single game. The previous record of three assists was shared by Natalyn Lewis, Athelia Graham and Shauna Rohbock.
Rose On Hermann Trophy Watch List
Three-time All-American senior Aleisha Rose, of the BYU women's soccer team, was named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy watch list Tuesday. The M.A.C.'s Hermann Trophy is college soccer's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy and represents the highest level of individual achievement in the sport.
Rose, a preseason All-American, is one of 16 athletes who make up the watch list that includes the top Division I athletes in the country. Past recipients include some of the biggest names in soccer, such as Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon MacMillan, Cindy Parlow, Claudio Reyna, Tony Meola and Alexi Lalas.
A native of Lakewood, Colo., Rose has become one of the most decorated soccer athletes in Cougar history. As a freshman she was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, was the MWC Player of the Year as a sophomore, a first-team All-MWC and MWC All-Tournament team selection and has received three-consecutive All-America citations. This is the second time in her career that Rose has been named to the Hermann Trophy watch list.
Cougars Picked Second in MC Preseason
The Mountain West Conference announced its 2003 preseason poll Monday with the league's coaches selecting BYU to finish second behind Utah.
One point and one vote separated the Cougars and the Utes in the voting, with BYU totaling 33 points and three first place votes, while Utah grabbed 34 points with four first place votes.
For the 2003 season BYU returns eight starters and 11 letterwinners while the Utes return six starters and 14 letterwinners.
MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Pl.Team(1st pl. votes)Points
1. Utah (4) 34
2. BYU (3) 33
3. New Mexico 26
4. UNLV 19
5. San Diego State 18
6. Air Force 9
7. Wyoming 8
Four-straight MWC Titles
With a 2-1 win over Utah in the final game of the regular season, BYU ensured itself a fourth-straight MWC Regular Season Championship.
The Cougars first goal of the game came in the 41st minute on a header by sophomore forward/midfielder Kimmie Davis. Senior forward Jeni Willardson-Viernes put BYU up 2-0, scoring her sixth game-winning goal of the season in the 64th minute on a pass from junior All-American Aleisha Cramer-Rose. Utah's only goal came on a penalty kick by Ute forward Shauna Gurr-Bingham.
Going into the MWC Tournament the Cougars earned a first-round bye before defeating San Diego State 9-2 in the second-round. The win advanced BYU to the championship game where they came out on top of New Mexico 5-1, winning their fourth consecutive MWC Championship title. To date, the Cougars remain the only team in the MWC to ever win the either conference crown.
Rose Named Preseason All-America
On Tuesday, Soccer America announced its 2003 preseason All-Americans, and heading up the list is three-time All-American senior Aleisha Rose of the BYU women's soccer team. Rose, a native of Lakewood, Colo., is one of the most decorated athletes to ever play for the Cougars and has been an integral part to the team's success the past three seasons.
Now entering her final year of eligibility, Rose has helped the Cougars win three Mountain West Conference titles, was named the 1999 National High School Player of the Year, the 2000 MWC Freshman of the Year and the 2000 ESPN/Soccer Times Freshman of the Year, the 2001 MWC Player of the Year, has been placed on the All-MWC first-team and the MWC Tournament all three years, and has received three All-America citations. Rose is one of 11 athletes that makes up the 2003 Soccer America preseason All-American list.
Cougar Awards in 2003
National
Preseason All-American - Aleisha Rose
Hermann Trophy candidate - Aleisha Rose
Soccer America Team of the Week - Defender, Claire Thomas 9/8
Conference
Defensive Player of the Week - Nicole Jensen 9/2
Claire Thomas 9/8
Cougar Awards In 2002
National
NSCAA ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 2nd Team
NSCAA All-West Region: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 1st Team; Jeni Viernes, 1st Team; Brooke Bowman, 3rd Team
SOCCER BUZZ ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 3rd Team; Brooke Bowman, Freshman 3rd Team
SOCCER BUZZ ALL-WEST REGION: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, 1st Team; Jeni Viernes, 1st Team; Brooke Bowman, All-Freshman Team
Conference
MWC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jeni Viernes
MWC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Brooke Bowman
MWC FIRST TEAM: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jeni Viernes, Brooke Bowman
MWC SECOND TEAM: Annie Hoecherl, Charlene Lui
MWC TOURNAMENT MVP: Jeni Viernes
MWC TOURNAMENT TEAM: Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jeni Viernes, Jennifer Fielding-Henry, Brooke Bowman
MWC ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Brooke Bowman, Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jennifer Fielding-Henry, Katherine Gabbart, Britney Holman, Charlene Lui, Terra Smith-Bigelow, Jeni Viernes
The Streak Stops at 13 Wins
After starting the 2002 season 3-5, the Cougars pealed off 13 consecutive victories, including seven road wins. The Cougars attempt for 14 straight fell short as BYU lost to Utah in the first-round of the NCAA Women's College Cup. It was the Cougars' first loss to the Utes in the program's history. The Cougars 13 game victory streak is the second longest in BYU history, with 14 being the record.
Standing Room Only
A record crowd packed into South Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5 to watch theCougars take on the No. 7 Tennessee Lady Vols. The game drew a standing-room-only crowd with 2,758 fans in attendance, breaking the old record of 2,191 set one week earlier in the season opener against No. 17 Michigan, a game that ended in a 0-0 double overtime tie.
South Stadium
For the past eight years South Stadium, formerly South Field, has been the battlefield for the Cougars as they have taken on, and defeated, the top teams in their conference and in the NCAA. The Cougars have amassed a 64-11-2 (.855) record at home, a record that is among the best in the nation over the same time period.
Of those 64 home-game wins, an outstanding 42 have ended in a shutout. The Cougars consistently hold their opponents scoreless when playing at South Stadium with 55.26 percent of all their games ending in shutout victories, while BYU has been shutout only five times in the stadium's history.
The Stadium's crowds consistently rank in the top 15 in the NCAA for the largest crowds in the country. With an average attendance of 1,075 fans during the 2002 campaign, the Cougars had the 15th largest attendance average in the country making South Stadium one of the toughest places for opponents to play in college today.
The Rockwood File
In only eight short years, head coach Jennifer Rockwood has taken the BYU women's soccer team to national prominence and established herself as one of the premier coaches in Division I soccer today.
Rockwood currently ranks eighth in winning percentage among active NCAA coaches with an impressive 142-39-3 (.780) overall record for her career, with the likes of Anson Dorrance, John Walker, Chris Petrucelli, Becky Burleigh and Clive Charles being the only coaches ahead of her. Over the last seven seasons, Rockwood has averaged 18.85 wins per year, an average that has her ranked second behind only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina.
In eight years as head coach, Rockwood has guided the Cougars to five conference championships. After going undefeated in conference play and winning their fourth straight Mountain West Conference title last season, the Cougars managed to remain the only team to win the conference title in the history of the MWC.
On the national scene, Rockwood and her teams have made six consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and reached the "Sweet Sixteen" in 1998 and 2000. Under the watch of Rockwood, the Cougars have also had seven consecutive top-25 finishes including last season's No. 23 finish.
Among the many achievements and awards she has received over her career, Rockwood has been honored with two Coach of the Year citations, one by the Western Athletic Conference in 1996, and then by the MWC in 2000. She also became the first MWC coach to eclipse the 100-win total mark when the Cougars shutout Milwaukee-Wisconsin 2-0 on Sept. 23, 2000.
Under Rockwood's tutelage, a long list of All-American soccer players has emerged from BYU's program. These athletes include Aleisha Rose, Jeni Viernes, and Michelle Jensen. Among the players who have been coached by Rockwood are four athletes that were drafted by the women's United Soccer Association: Shauna Rohbock, Maren Hendershot, Sara Reading, and Staci Reynolds.
Prior to becoming the head coach, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team for seven years. In that time she amassed an overall record of 128-25-9, and in the final two years she took her teams to the Western National Collegiate Club soccer Association (NCCSA) title and placed second in the NCCSA National Championships.
The Lake Oswego, Ore. native was a three-sport athlete in college playing soccer, basketball, and track. After one year at Ricks College on a basketball scholarship, she transferred to BYU where she became a four-year starter at center midfield on the Cougars' club soccer team. Rockwood has also coached in the Utah ODP, youth club programs, and at the high school level.
ROCKWOOD, YEAR-BY-YEAR
YearW LTConference
199511 81WAC
199622 10WAC
199719 40WAC
199820 50WAC
199921 40MWC
200019 41MWC
200114 71MWC
200216 60MWC
20033 01MWC
Total145394(.797)
BYU club team under Rockwood:
128-25-9 (.790), six years (1989-1994)
Rockwood Among Coaching Elite
Rockwood currently ranks eighth in winning percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches with an impressive 142-39-3 (.780) overall record for her career. Anson Dorrance, John Walker, Chris Petrucelli, Becky Burleigh and Clive Charles are the only coaches ahead of her. Over the last seven seasons, Rockwood has averaged 18.85 wins per year, an average that has her ranked second behind only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina.
Fresh Faces
This season's incoming class of Cougar freshman can be expected to make strong contributions to the team, with five of the nine recruits hailing from Utah.
With the loss of some key defenders from last year's squad, expect freshmen Claire Thomas, and Nicole Jensen to make an immediate impact for BYU.
Jensen was a 2002 All-State selection out of Denver, CO, and Thomas was a 2002 and 2003 Barons All-Tournament Team selection as well as a 2002 second-team All-Palomar athlete, and joins the team at 16 years of age.
Among the Utah athletes headed to BYU is the 5A MVP in 2002 Elizabeth Affleck (redshirting the 2003 season) out of Alta High School and the two-time 4A MVP Courtney Asay from Mountain View High School.
The Cougars' incoming class ranks along side with the best classes the school has ever had. Affleck and Bobbi Tillotson were both members of the 5A State Championship Alta High School, and Asay, Haylee Cuthbert, and Ali Williams all played for the three-time 4A State Championship Mountian View Bruins.
Home Sweet Home
The 2003 regular schedule is set to be one of the best home game schedules in school history. The Cougars will be playing 13 of their 19 regular season games at South Stadium. Highlighting this season's home schedule will be three teams that finished in the 2002 NSCAA top-25: No. 11 Michigan, No. 10 Tennessee, and No. 22 USC. BYU will also host four teams that are ranked in the NSCAA preseason top-25: No. 14 Tennessee, No. 17 Michigan, No. 19 USC and No. 21 Florida.
In the past home field advantage has paid great dividends for the Cougars as the team has amassed an impressive 61-10-1 record at home. In the those games BYU has managed to shut out its opponent 38 times, while losing only four games in a shutout.
Also included in the home schedule is the 1998 NCAA Championship team, Florida, as well as in-state rivals Southern Utah, Weber State, and Utah. The Cougars and Utes will face-off in the final regular season home game for BYU on Nov. 1 at South Stadium.
With seven teams on the regular season schedule that qualified for the 2002 NCAA Tournament, this year's schedule promises to be one of the most competitive seasons for the Cougars who finished No. 23 in the NSCAA final rankings last year and are No. 24 in the NSCAA preseason poll.
Injury Update
Senior Aydre Soff tore her meniscus in practice on Sept. 4, and is done for her career. Freshman goalkeeper Meredith Simmons is out for the season due to a torn MCL she suffered in practice Sept. 3 and will be out for the rest of the season. Sophomore midfielder Brooke Bowman has a potential tear in her MCL and is having a scan done to verify.
Practive and Interviews
Practice is held weekdays from 2:15-4:30 on Haws Field. Interviews with Coach Rockwood and/or members of the Cougar soccer team are schedules through the BYU Athletic Media Relations office. To schedule an interview, Please contact Jason Wells at (801) 422-8999 or by
e-mail at soccer_sid@byu.edu.