PROVO -- The No. 2-seeded BYU Cougars were upset 2-1 Wednesday night in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament by the seventh-seeded Air Force Falcons, ending BYU's season with a 7-10-4 overall record.
"I thought we played a nice game," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "Air Force played solid and we just fell short. We had a good team this year, but unless you can put the ball in the back of the net, you can't win."
Finishing shots was definitely tough for the Cougars as they had an astounding 21-6 shot advantage, including an 8-1 ratio in the second half. BYU also recorded seven corner kicks while not giving up any to the Falcons. The Cougars forced the Falcon defense to work hard as the ball was on the Air Force side of the field the vast majority of the night.
Both teams scored early in the game as the Falcons struck first five minutes in on a goal from junior Meredith Benson. BYU quickly answered back with a score just six minutes later from Bobbi Tillotson off of a corner kick by Carolyn Swenson, marking Tillotson's second goal of the season.
With the score tied at 1-1 and 19 minutes left in the half, Air Force's Raegan McDowell dribbled past Cougar goalkeeper and MWC Freshman of the Year Erika Woodbury and put the ball in the net. Despite out-shooting Air Force 13-5 in the first half, BYU went into the locker room down 2-1.
The Cougars were anxious to even the score in the second half and found themselves with plenty of opportunities to do so. Two shots by All-MWC Second Teamer Charlene Lui in the 53rd and 54th minutes sailed over the net. The Cougars had a fastbreak opportunity as they headed up the field with 25 minutes left to go but could not finish the play as Falcon goalkeeper Jennifer Drew made a diving save to prevent the score.
The contest heated up even more in the 70th minute as Air Force's Benson knocked over Woodbury, earning a yellow card. The Cougars continued to push upfield, getting a shot from All-MWC First Team honoree Jamie Rendich with 13 minutes to play and another from BYU's Nicole Anderson with just five minutes to go that sailed over the top of the net. However, the Falcons prevailed in the end, earning their first victory since September 10th in knocking off the Cougars.
"It obviously wasn't our best game, but we can take this and learn from it," Rockwood said. "We have a young team with everyone coming back next season, so we'll look forward to that."
In earlier tournament action, No. 4 Utah defeated No. 5 Wyoming to move onto the semifinals where the Utes will face MWC regular-season champion UNLV, recipient of a first-round bye. Air Force moves on to play No. 3 San Diego State in the semis thanks to an Aztec victory over No. 6 New Mexico. Both games will be played tomorrow with Utah-UNLV beginning at 4:30 p.m. and SDSU-Air Force starting at 7 p.m. The entire Tournament will be played on BYU's South Stadium Field, with the championship game being played Saturday at 11 a.m.
Soccer Box Score (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
Air Force Academy vs Brigham Young (Nov 03, 2004 at Provo, UT)
Air Force Academy (1-0-0) vs. Goals by period 1 2 Tot
Brigham Young (0-1-0) -------------------------------
Date: Nov 03, 2004 Attendance: 578 Air Force Academy... 2 0 - 2
Weather: Brigham Young....... 1 0 - 1
Air Force Academy Brigham Young
Pos ## Player Sh SOG G A Pos ## Player Sh SOG G A
------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------
GK 0 DREW, Jennifer...... - - - - GK 28 WOODBURY, Erika..... - - - -
D 3 WOOD, Alison........ - - - - D 3 CUTHBERT, Haylee.... - - - -
MF 6 NICOLAIDES, Taryn... 1 1 - - F 7 SWENSON, Carolyn.... 1 - - 1
F 7 MCDOWELL, Raegan.... 2 2 1 - MF 9 REINBOLD, Krissa.... 1 - - -
F 8 SLOGIC, Katherine... 1 - - - D 10 URRUTIA, Whitney.... - - - -
F 10 ROWLAND, Jennifer... - - - - F 11 RENDICH, Jaime...... 4 3 - -
F 12 TATAREK, Elaine..... 1 1 1 - MF 12 NATE, Natalie....... 2 - - -
MF 14 BENSON, Meredith.... - - - 1 MF 16 LUI, Charlene....... 3 3 - -
D 15 CLELAND, Amanda..... - - - - MF 19 ANDERSON, Nicole.... 1 - - -
D 22 LARNED, Janie....... - - - - MF 20 TILLOTSON, Bobbi.... 1 1 1 -
D 24 FORD, Jennifer...... - - - - D 25 THOMAS, Claire...... 3 - - -
---------- Substitutes ---------- ---------- Substitutes ----------
4 PARKER, Ashley...... - - - - 4 KING, Davia......... - - - -
5 PERKOWSKI, Brittney. - - - - 6 ZWAHLEN, Annie...... 2 2 - -
9 HENRY, Sean......... - - - - 15 BOWMAN, Brooke...... 2 - - -
11 TEMES, Lindsay...... - - - - 18 ASAY, Courtney...... 1 1 - -
13 PLICHTA, Katherine.. - - - - 22 MARTINS, Kimmie..... - - - -
16 FITZPATRICK, Erin... - - - - 23 HAYMOND, Alison..... - - - -
18 JARAMILLO, Danielle. 1 1 - - Totals.............. 21 10 1 1
19 BRODIE, Christin.... - - - -
21 MOKOS, Melinda...... - - - -
Totals.............. 6 5 2 1
Air Force Academy Brigham Young
## Player MIN GA Saves ## Player MIN GA Saves
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
0 DREW, Jennifer...... 90:00 1 9 28 WOODBURY, Erika..... 90:00 2 3
Shots by period 1 2 Tot Saves by period 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 5 1 - 6 Air Force Academy... 6 3 - 9
Brigham Young....... 13 8 - 21 Brigham Young....... 2 1 - 3
Corner kicks 1 2 Tot Fouls 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 0 0 - 0 Air Force Academy... 7 8 - 15
Brigham Young....... 4 3 - 7 Brigham Young....... 3 10 - 13
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL Time Team Goal Scorer Assists Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 5:00 AF TATAREK, Elaine BENSON, Meredith
2. 10:46 BY TILLOTSON, Bobbi SWENSON, Carolyn
3. 25:49 AF MCDOWELL, Raegan (unassisted)
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
YC-BY #6 (65:10); YC-AF #14 (70:08)
Officials:
Offsides: Air Force Academy 0, Brigham Young 0.