PROVO -- After finishing the 2003 season No. 5 in the NCAA and the program's first Elite Eight appearance, the BYU women's soccer team set out on the 2004 season with hopes and expectations of continuing to set their mark at the conference and national levels.
With the graduation of a dominating senior class of five starting seniors, including four-time All-American Aleisha Rose, the Cougars would have to rely on a few key returning starters and the strength of their underclassman. BYU became an even younger squad heading into the 2004 season with the loss of two additional starters Nicole Jensen and Brooke Thulin to ACL injuries.
With a rebuilding year ahead, the BYU women's soccer team battled through a tough 2004 schedule, playing games against eight nationally ranked programs. Despite suffering its first losing season in the programs ten-year history with a record of 7-10-4, BYU still managed to finished second place in the Mountain West Conference with a 3-1-2 record.
Although the young team fought hard and made tremendous progress throughout the year, it wasn't enough to statically finish on top. BYU was competitive in every game in 2004. Of the ten losses, eight of the games were decided by only one goal. The Cougars also found themselves playing in eight overtime games throughout the year.
BYU showed great character and perseverance this season despite the ups and downs of a competitive schedule. Challenges seemed to be faced with every week gone by. The Cougars continued to have injury setbacks with their starters that forced Coach Rockwood to further juggle the line-up.
Starting mid-fielder Amberlea Anderson tore her ACL 13 games into the season followed by defender Lindsy Humphrey with yet another ACL the next week and midfielder Jenevieve Philips was out for the season the very next game. Although it was difficult to find consistency from the starting group week to week, many younger players were given the opportunity to gain valuable experience that should pay off in the near future.
In reviewing the games throughout the 2004 season, it started as it finished with the Cougars looking for consistency in their defense and struggling to find the back of the net after creating opportunities to score.
Junior forward Jaime Rendich led the team with nine goals and was named to the second- team All-West Region by Soccer Buzz. Sophomore midfielder/forward Bobbi Tillotson led the team with eight assists and in her freshman season, goalkeeper Erika Woodbury quickly earned respect from opposing defenses and was named the MWC Freshman of the Year with a 1.18 goals against average and seven shutouts.
Rendich also made the MWC All-Tournament First Team and All-MWC First Team. She was joined on the All-MWC First Team by Claire Thomas and teammates junior Charlene Lui and Woodbury both earned second-team honors.
In the season opener, sophomore Annie Zwahlen scored the team's first goal against Idaho State in Pocatello, but it wasn't enough as BYU fell 3-1.
The Cougars returned to South Stadium for a challenging five-game home stand featuring games against nationally-ranked Kansas and Arizona State. The first home game of the season BYU fell to then No. 9 ranked Kansas 1-0. Freshman goalkeeper Erika Woodbury started the first game of her collegiate career and finished with four saves off eight Jayhawk shots.
With 1,671 fans on hand, BYU picked up its first victory of the season just three days later in overtime against Northwestern 3-2. Zwahlen headed the ball past the Wildcat goalkeeper for the game-winning goal on a corner kick by Tillotson. Rendich scored the game's first goal. The victory resulted largely due to the aggressive play of Tillotson, who finished with one goal and assisted on two others.
Facing a talented Arizona State team that was then ranked No. 11 in the nation, BYU fell 3-2, despite beginning the game with a 1-0 lead on an early goal by Rendich. Freshman Natalie Nate scored her first collegiate goal but it was not quite enough as the Sun Devils countered each offensive attach by the Cougars with one of their own to hold on for the victory.
Bouncing back with two straight shutouts at South Stadium against Utah State and Gonzaga, BYU now had a 3-3 record and was back on track. The Cougars led with a balanced attack as five different girls each scored a goal in the two victories over the Aggies 2-0, and the Bulldogs 3-0. Senior Krissa Reinbold scored her first goal of the season and freshman Carolyn Swenson scored her first collegiate goal. Defensively for the Cougars, Woodbury collected a combined five saves.
Woodbury was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week after posting the first two shutout victories of her career against Utah State and Gonzaga.
Riding a 3-3 record following consecutive victories, BYU headed to Southern California for a challenging two-game trip against USC and Loyola Marymount. In a characteristically physical game against USC, the game ended in a 1-1 tie following two overtime periods. Zwahlen provided the lone BYU goal early with her fourth goal of the season in the second half on a breakaway, beating the USC goalkeeper.
BYU struggled to find a rhythm against Loyola Marymount falling 2-1. Sophomore Claire Thomas scored her first goal of the season with a header off a corner kick by senior Kimmie Martins.
BYU returned to Provo for what proved to be a difficult three-game home stand in five days against Arizona, Washington State and Hawaii. BYU fell to a talented Arizona team 1-0 on Sept. 23, lost 2-1 against Washington State on Sept. 25 and tied Hawaii 0-0 after double overtime on Sept. 27. Swenson scored BYU's only goal against WSU, her second of the season.
Dropping to 3-6-2, BYU headed to the Pacific Northwest for two games against No. 5 Portland and Eastern Washington. Despite losing the game 2-0 against Portland, the Cougars gained a lot of confidence from the contest and defeated Eastern Washington 1-0 in preparation for conference play. Coach Rockwood was happy with BYU's competitive effort on the field.
"I felt we showed ourselves that we were able to compete against such a quality team in Portland."
BYU, with a 4-7-2 record, opened up the MWC season at home in Provo with a 0-0 tie against San Diego State and a 1-0 victory over eventual conference champion UNLV. Reinbold and Woodbury were named the MWC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for their roles in the teams success against the conference's top two teams.
With the victory over UNLV, the Cougars improved to 5-7-3 and headed to Austin for the first-ever meeting with the University of Texas. The game proved to be a thriller as BYU fought from behind to score two second-half goals, but fell in overtime 3-2. Rallying from two goals down, Claire Thomas scored off a corner kick by Tillotson. Rendich tied the game 2-2 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, assisted again by Tillotson. Just four minutes into sudden-death overtime, Texas won a scramble in the box.
BYU traveled to Colorado Springs and Laramie for its third and fourth conference games. Overtime proved fateful for the Cougars as they tied Air Force 1-1 following double overtime and lost 2-3 in overtime to Wyoming.
Ending the regular season strong, BYU defeated New Mexico 1-0 on a penalty kick-goal by Rendich and defeated in-state rival University of Utah 2-1 in front of a packed house in Salt Lake City. Both Swenson and sophomore Brooke Bowman scored for the Cougars. The victory improved BYU's all-time record against the Utes to 14-3.
The No. 2-seeded BYU Cougars were upset 2-1 Nov. 3 in the first round of the MWC tournament by the seventh-seeded Air Force Falcons, ending BYU's season with a 7-10-4 overall record. BYU held a 21-6 shot advantage over Air Force as the Cougar offense kept the ball on the Falcons side of the field the majority of the game, but struggled to finish in the back of the net.
"As frustrating as it got at times, we stayed together and remained united as a team through all the ups and downs," Rockwood said. "They really pulled for each other to succeed on and off the field. I was proud of their effort this season."
For the 2004 Cougars and their loyal fans, the season was a positive learning experience filled with trials that tested each individual player as well as the team. The future is always bright for a team that is founded on sound coaching and hard work. BYU women's soccer bids farewell to its three hard-working seniors, Mandy Gott, Kimmie Martins and Krissa Reinbold.