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Contact: Bryce Porter 801-422-8999
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After an encouraging trip to the Pacific Northwest where they challenged No. 6 Portland to a close game and defeated Eastern Washington 1-0, BYU women's soccer team (4-7-2) returns home to open conference play with two games.
The Cougars look to extend their winning streak to two games as they battle San Diego State (3-6-3) Thurday at 7 p.m. and UNLV (7-2-2), Saturday at 7 p.m. Saturday night's game is Senior Night for BYU and the team will honor three seniors: Kimmie Martins, Mandy Gott and Krissa Reinbold. That game will be televised live on BYUTV on Dish Network and Direct TV and tape delayed on KBYU locally.
The Cougars are led offensively by junior forward Jaime Rendich with five goals and 12 points on the season. Rendich is complimented by sophomore forward Annie Zwahlen with four goals and 10 points. Another offensive threat on the squad is sophomore Bobbi Tillotson, with one goal and a team-leading four assists. BYU's defense is anchored by its freshman goalkeeper Erika Woodbury, who has posted a 1.12 goals-against average, and sophomore defender Claire Thomas. The duo have been major contributors in three shutouts this season.
Defensively, the Cougars have improved steadily throughout the season and tallied its third shutout against Eastern Washington. Claire Thomas, Nicole Anderson, Lindsy Humphrey and Rachelle Dixon have played solid minutes and established a reliable defensive front. BYU will look to convert more of its shots to goals this week after scoring just four goals in the last seven games. The Cougars have been slightly outscored by a slim 17-15 margin, despite gaining a 161-23 advantage in shot attempts.
BYU seeks to regain the MWC Championship that it has won four of the last five years. In last year's championship game, BYU fell 0-2 to the University of Utah. Selected to last year's tournament team were Aleisha Rose, Jennifer Fielding and Krissa Reinbold. BYU was picked to finish second to the Utes in this year's MWC preseason coaches' poll. The Cougars will look to Reinbold and her experience to get the team off to a solid start against SDSU.
WEEK IN REVIEW:
BYU FALLS 0-2 TO NO. 6 PORTLAND
Facing the No. 6 ranked Portland Pilots, BYU played well despite losing 2-0. BYU had some great looks to score early but were unable to find the back of the net. Total shots ended in Portland's favor 16-10, after a closer 7-6 advantage at halftime. The opportunities came for BYU including a 5-3 advantage with corner kicks, but the Cougars were unable to convert. Junior Jaime Rendich gave BYU a chance to get on the board on a scramble alone infront of the goal, but pulled the ball just wide left. Freshman goalie Erika Woodburry was active throughout the game for the Cougars, stopping six Pilot shot attempts.
BYU SHUTS OUT EWU 1-0
The Cougars (4-7-2) improved their play after a rough start in the first half and finished with 24 shots to eight for the Eagles. The game's lone goal came for the Cougars in the 77th minute beginning with a throw-in by senior Krissa Reinbold. Reinbold threw the ball in to junior Jaime Rendich, who turned pass her defender and sent the ball down the line to sophomore Courtney Asay. A low cross towards the goal by Asay was shot just inside the right post by Rendich, for her fifth goal of the season.
BYU's defense, which has steadily improved all season, recorded its third shutout, and held the Eagles offense without a shot in the secound half. EWU drops to 3-6-1 on the season. Goalie Erika Woodbury finished with two saves and won her fourth game for the Cougars.
Coach Jennifer Rockwood believes that BYU, despite its losing record, has played some tough teams early on and now has a chance to turn things around in time to begin conference play.
SCOUTING THE SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS:
The Aztecs have been shutout for three consecutive games for the first time in the program's 16-year history. SDSU has gone 341:44 without scoring a goal. Senior Courtney Burns scored SDSU's last goal against Cal State Northridge on Sept. 24. The Aztecs have also been shutout seven times in 2004. The Aztecs have been shutout for three consecutive games for the first time in the program's 16-year history. The 2004 Aztec defense is led by senior Noelle Jouglet, junior Amanda Swiader and freshmen Kelly Carter and Ashley Young. Doalkeepers Sophia Perez and Gricelda Alvarez have teeamed for 56 saves throug 12 games. Offensively, Alexi Solovij leads the team with three goals and one assist.
HISTORY AGAINST SAN DIEGO STATE: BYU will play San Diego State for the 14th time in since 1995. BYU leads the series 7-6 and has posted a 5-2 record at home against the Aztecs. In last year's meeting, SDSu defeated BYU 1-0 in San Diego Oct. 16.
SCOUTING THE UNLV REBELS:
UNLV (7-2-2) has a four-game unbeaten streak and received the first regional ranking in team history as the Rebels tied for 10th, along with Utah, in this week's NSCAA West Region rankings.
The Rebels recently posted back-to-back shutouts victories over Idaho State and Arizona State. It was also the fifth and sixth straight wins at home for the Rebels. The two losses this year have come against ranked teams (No. 17 Kansas, and No. 7 Tennessee), while one of the two ties was at Rice, ranked in the Central region.
Junior goalkeeper Jenna Huff has a conference-leading six shutouts on the season, including two in a row. Ten different players have scored goals for UNLV. Nickie Olson leads the team with three goals and two assists and is complimented by the play of Jessica Brown, with two goals and four assists.
HISTORY AGAINST UNLV: BYU is undefeated in seven games against UNLV, plaing each of the last seven years and the Cougars have won the last three games by a combined score of 17-0. Of the seven victories, three have been at home.
BYU'S YOUNG GUNS
A number of freshman, one transfer and one walk-on have played big minutes for the Cougars, stepping in their first season and contributing to a team that lost seven starters. Freshmen Carolyn Swenson has scored two goals and Natalie Nate has scored once. Junior Nicole Anderson transferred from Dixie and has played key minutes on defense. Junior defender Lindsy Humphrey starts on defense for BYU after walking onto the team this fall. At the anchor of the defense is freshman Erick Woodbury, who posts an 1.12 goals-against average and three shutouts. BYU added 10 freshman to this year's team.
Cougars to host Mwc championships
BYU will play host to the 2004 Mountain West Conference Championships Wednesday Nov. 3- 6 at South Stadium in Provo. The following is a breakdown of the three-day tournament. The winner of the Championship receives an automatic bid into the 2004 NCAA Women's College Cup Championships which begin Thursday Nov. 11.
Opening round: Wednesday, Nov. 3
Semifinals: Thursday, Nov. 4
Finals: Saturday, Nov. 6
Times for these games will be provided at a later date.
Woodbury - mwc defensive player of the week
BYU freshman goalkeeper Erika Woodbury was named Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 14 after posting her first two career shutout victories. This award was the first career weekly honor for Woodbury and the first BYU player honored this season.
A true freshman from Murrieta, Calif., Woodbury anchored the BYU defense in two victories over Utah State and Gonzaga. In the 2-0 Cougar victory over Utah State, she played all 90 minutes in goal, saving three shots. Woodbury saved two more shots in 81 minutes of action, holding Gonzaga scoreless for only the second time this season, in a 3-0 win.
Woodbury began starting for the Cougars in just the second game of the season against a talented Kansas squad. Today, she has a total of 40 saves and a goal-against average of 1.12 in 12 games.
the assist queen
Sophomore Bobbi Tillotson is leading the team in assists with four and is third on the team in total points with six. Tillotsons' most impressive outing was in BYU's overtime win against Northwestern when she had a hand in all three goals scored. Tillotson scored the first goal of the game and assisted on two other goals to Jaime Rendich an Annie Zwahlen.
Cougar Awards in 2003
National
HERMAN TROPHY NOMINEE: Aleisha Rose
NSCAA ALL-AMERCAN: Aleisha Rose, 3rd Team
NSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Rose, 1st Team
NSCAA ALL-REGION: Aleisha Rose, 1st Team; Nicole Jensen, 3rd Team; Krissa Campbell, 3rd Team
SOCCER BUZZ PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALIST: Aleisha Rose
SOCCER BUZZ ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Rose, 2nd Team; Nicole Jensen, Freshman 3rd Team
SOCCER BUZZ ALL-REGION: Aleisha Rose, 1st Team; Nicole Jensen, 3rd Team
SOCCER POST ALL-AMERICAN: Aleisha Rose, 1st Team
SOCCER AMERICA MVP: Aleisha Rose
Conference
MWC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Aleisha Rose
MWC FIRST TEAM: Aleisha Rose, Jennifer Fielding, Krissa Campbell
MWC SECOND TEAM: Terra Bigelow, Claire Thomas, Nicole Jensen
MWC TOURNAMENT TEAM: Aleisha Rose, Lydia Ojuka and Krissa Campbell
MWC ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Aleisha Rose, Britney Holman, Terra Bigelow, Jennifer Fielding, Ashley Smith, Natalie Evans, Katie Gabbart, Claire Thomas, Charlene Lui
MWC ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Brooke Bowman, Aleisha Cramer-Rose, Jennifer Fielding-Henry, Katherine Gabbart, Britney Holman, Charlene Lui, Terra Smith-Bigelow, Jeni Viernes
Last season: 2003 NCAA elite eight
The BYU women's soccer team's NCAA tournament run came to an end at the paws of the No. 18 Connecticut Huskies who defeated the Cougars 3-1 in the Elite Eight.
"We came together and made a good run in the tournament," said Rockwood, "The team played hard today and I am very proud of them."
The Cougars ended the 2003 season with a 16-7-3 mark and earned the program's seventh-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, the school's best showing in the NCAA tournament as one of the team's in the Elite Eight and the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in senior All-American Aleisha Rose.
The game was played in 40-degree weather with winds around 40 mph, on a field that was soggy and muddy from rainstorms the day before.
In the first period the Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Cougars ended the UConn bid for a shutout in the second period but it wasn't enough as the Huskies held on to win 3-1.
Coming out of half time the Cougars battle to get back into the game and in the 63rd minute they got on the scoreboard as Rose's free kick from 20 yards out connected with the head of sophomore Jaime Rendich to bring the Cougars within two at 3-1.
For BYU, the 2003 season will go down as one of the most successful in the program's short nine-year history as the Cougars finish the as one of the top eight teams in the country.
"We had a tremendous season," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "These girls have represented themselves and the school very well."
south stadium
South Stadium is the place the Cougars love to call home, and a home all opponents hate to visit.
For the past nine years, South Stadium Field (formerly South Field), has been the battlefield for the Cougars as the team has taken on, and defeated, the top teams in their conference and in the NCAA.
The Cougars have amassed an 85-18-2 record at home, a record that is among the best in the nation over the same time period. Of those 84 home-game wins, an outstanding 46 have ended in a shutout.
BYU consistently manages to hold its opponents scoreless when playing at South Stadium with 53.65 percent of all the Cougars' wins ending in shutout victories, while BYU has been shutout only five times in the stadium's history.
Located just south of the Smith Fieldhouse, South Stadium boasts one of the best maintained grass playing surfaces in the NCAA. The Wasatch Mountains serve as a scenic backdrop for the capacity crowd of 3,000 fans. South Stadium is also equipped with state-of-the-art field lights, making night games a favorite among fans.
Consistently among the top 15 in the NCAA, South Stadium packs in some of the largest crowds in the country. With an average attendance of 1,595 fans during the 2003 campaign, the Cougars had the third largest attendance average in the country and the number one average in the west. BYU also packed in a total of 20,737 fans over 13 games, recording the third highest mark in the country and making South Stadium one of the toughest places for opponents to play in women's college soccer today.
the rockwood file
After completing her ninth season, 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.
As of the beginning of 2004, Rockwood ranks eighth in winning percentage among active NCAA coaches with an impressive 158-46-6 overall record for her career. Over the last eight seasons, Rockwood has averaged 17.88 wins per year.
Over the past nine years, Rockwood has guided the Cougars to five conference championships. On the national scene, her teams have made seven consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and reached the "Sweet Sixteen" in 1998, 2000 and 2003. The Cougars have maintained a consistent top-25 ranking over the past eight consecutive years. During Rockwood's tenure, the team has had three top-10 finishes including a recent run in the 2003 NCAA College Cup. The tournament ended with BYU finishing No. 5 in the country after making their first "Elite Eight" appearance in the program's ten year history.
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, Michelle Jensen. Among the players who have been coached by Rockwood are four additional All-American 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 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 four-sport athlete in high school playing soccer, softball, basketball and track. After one year at Rick's 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 and graduated in finance, business management. 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
200316 732nd
2004(4)(7)(2)-------
Total158466(.767)
BYU club team under Rockwood:
128-25-9 (.790), six years (1989-1994)
ROCKWOOD AMONG COACHING ELITE
As of the beginning of 2004, Rockwood ranks seventh in winning percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches with an impressive 158-46-6 (.767) overall record for her career. Anson Dorrance, John Walker, Chris Petrucelli, Becky Burleigh, Jerry Smith and Len Tsantiris are the only coaches ahead of her. Over the last eight seasons, Rockwood has averaged 18.35 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 expect to make strong contributions to the team, with eight of the eleven recruits hailing from Utah.
Many of the young and talented players have an opportunity to play quality minutes in hopes of making an immediate impact on the team. Midfielder Natalie Nate and Goalkeeper Erika Woodbury, along with the other newcomers look to prove their worth and compete for playing time.
Nate was a first-team 2002 All-State selection out of Salt Lake City, and Woodbury was a first-team All-CIF and All-Valley Player of the Year out of Murrieta, CA.
Among the Utah athletes headed to BYU is the 2003 NCSAA and Adidas National Junior College Player of the Year Nicole Anderson.
"We have a great recruiting class coming in as freshman. We think that some of these confidant and capable freshman can step up for us and play some valuable minutes. As soon as some of our young players get some quality game experience against some very tough opponents in September, it will really help prepare us for the conference season."
Home sweet home
With seven NCAA Tournament participants and four top-25 teams, this year's schedule promises to be one of the most competitive seasons for the Cougar team that finished No. 14 in the NSCAA final rankings last year.
The Cougar women play a total of 20 games, 10 at home and 10 on the road.
The team featured home games against two NCAA tournament participants. BYU opened the season against Kansas and later against Arizona State. Average attendance for last season was third highest in the nation with nearly 1,600 people cheering on the team.
This year's MWC Championships will be played at South Stadium in Provo Nov. 3-6. BYU looks to regain the MWC Championship that they have won four of
In the past home field advantage has paid great dividends for the Cougars as the team has amassed an impressive 85-18-3 record at home. In the those games BYU has managed to shut out its opponent 46 times, while being shutout themselves in only four games.
Cougars Picked Second in mwc preseason
The Mountain West Conference coaches selected BYU to finish second behind Utah for the second year in a row in the preseason polls.
Three vote separated the Cougars and the Utes in the voting, with BYU totaling 32 points and two first place votes, while Utah grabbed 35 points with five first place votes.
The Cougars return 16 letterwinners (four starters) from the team that advanced all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. BYU, (16-7-3 overall, 4-2-0 in MWC play) finished the year with a No. 14 ranking and a fifth-place finish in the NCAA tournament.
Team (1st place votes)Points
1. Utah (5)35
2. BYU (2) 32
3. San Diego State 25
4. UNLV 21
5. Wyoming 14
6. New Mexico11
7. Air Force 9
Cougars find success/enjoyment in visit to italy
The BYU women's soccer team traveled to Italy this spring for games against four of the top teams in that country.
Stops were made in Lugano, Switzerland as well as the Italian cities of Lake Como, Milan, Venice, Tuscany, Florence, Pisa and Rome.
BYU kicked off the tour with a game against the U-21 Italian National Champions in Milan on Wednesday, April 27, then against AC Milan on Saturday, May 1. Then the Cougars head to Florence on Tuesday, May 4, to face the U-19 Italian National Team and finished up in Rome on Wednesday, May 5, against Lazio in Rome.
The team enjoyed fantastic food during the trip and took guided tours and cruise rides including one to the Bellagio. The trip highlights included visits to the tower of Pisa, Vatican City, the Coluseum, and numerous museums and cathedrals, giving the girls an opportunity to experience the rich culture in Italy.
Game 1: BYU vs. Riozzese U-21
It ended in a tie game 1-1
Game 2: BYU vs. ACF Milan
BYU was victorious 4-3
Game 3: BYU vs. Italian National Team U-19
BYU was victorious 2-0
Game 4: BYU vs. AC Decimum Lazio Femminile
BYU was victorious 3-2
PRACTICE AND INTERVIEWS
Practice is held weekdays from 1-3 p.m., on Haws Field. Interviews with Coach Rockwood and/or members of the Cougar soccer team are scheduled through the BYU Athletic Communications office. To schedule and interview, please contact Bryce Porter at (801) 422-8999 or by email at soccer_sid@byu.edu.