PROVO -- Following a light-hearted alumni game Friday evening, the BYU women's soccer team showed glimpses of potential but was inconsistent Saturday in the Spring Outdoor Tournament with a victory over rival Utah and ties against UVSC and Idaho State.
The eight teams that participated this weekend were BYU, Dixie, Idaho State, Southern Utah, Utah State, UVSC, Utah and Weber State. Each team played two games at South Stadium and one game in the Indoor Practice Facility.
In BYU's first game of the day against UVSC, the Cougars played to a 1-1 tie. BYU had only three shots during the 50-minute game. The lone BYU goal came after freshman Carolyn Swenson out-raced the Wolverine defender to the end line and played the ball back to junior Jaime Rendich-Beck, who scored from 15 yards out.
Consistent focus and intensity seemed to be the biggest obstacles for BYU throughout the 2004 season and head coach Jennifer Rockwood is not sure the team has yet to learn that lesson.
"We haven't proven we've learned the lessons from last year. It's disappointing. We played well against Utah but we then we came out flat against UVSC and Idaho State. We've got a long way to go before fall. Although, we've shown glimpses this spring of our potential, we have to learn to mentally prepare for every game."
In the second game facing in-state rival Utah, BYU came out with much more energy and outshot the Utes 8-2, on the way to a 1-0 victory. The game's only goal came after a corner kick from sophomore Bobbi Tillotson to sophomore Claire Thomas. Utah was unable to clear the loose ball and sophomore Annie Zwahlen got a foot on it and poked the ball in past a diving Ute goalkeeper.
"It's always good to play Utah," said Thomas. "We had a fun time since we came with so much intensity and energy. We have so much potential right now and it's just up to us how much we want that potential to turn into success."
In the third game of the day and fourth in two days, BYU played Idaho State to a 0-0 tie following a shortened game of two 20-minute halves. Yet, Rockwood said she believed fatigue had nothing to do with the way BYU played.
"We weren't mentally prepared to play. We have to realize that every team we play is going to come after us. The players will have a lot to think about over the summer by the way we played today."
The coaches will hold the end-of-year meeting with the entire team on Monday and will also meet with each individual to set goals for the next four months concerning conditioning and areas of improvement.
Players will begin their summer conditioning program May 1 and team practice will officially begin in August. The first look at the Cougars will be Aug. 19 in the annual Blue/White game followed by exhibition matches against Utah State and Idaho State on Aug. 20 and 23, respectively.
"We really only have two weeks to prepare for the season after we start practice. That is the difficult thing with fall sports. So we really need these girls to work on individual skills over the off-season. Overall, the spring season was good. We're making progress but we're not quite there yet. I believe we'll be a very good team next year."