By DAVID FUHRIMAN
After nearly 10 hours of soccer competition in less than three days, the BYU men's soccer team's season ended with a scissor kick, a dogpile and a second straight national championship.
The Cougars' year culminated with a sudden-death overtime goal by freshman forward Ryan Hawkins, as players and coaches tackled each other with yells and a collective sigh of relief. 'When I saw the ball hit the back of the net, I was just relieved,' junior midfielder and co-captain Jeremy Humphries said. 'After all that soccer, we were just glad to get that last win.'
Head coach Chris Watkins, normally a more stoic figure on the sidelines than the players themselves, couldn't hide his enthusiasm about the weekend. 'Coach was the most excited person the field,' Humphries said.
'It was just an unbelievable weekend,' Watkins said. 'The last game against Texas was the best game of soccer I've seen in my whole life. It was incredibly exciting. We feel that BYU and Texas are the two best teams in the country. Both of us were looking forward to playing each other. Fortunately, we peaked at the right time.'
'Peaked' may be an understatement. After losing the first three games of the year, the Cougars finished the season on a 10-game winning streak. 'The team came a long way this season,' Humphries said. 'We really have something to be proud of.'
The tournament started out well for the Cougars. In their group of four teams, BYU won every game in convincing fashion. The Cougars began the tourney Thursday with a 3-0 win over Texas A&M and a 2-0 victory over Penn State.
'In our first game, we just wanted to win and make a good first impression at the tournament, and I think we did that,' freshman forward Glenn Puckrin said. BYU squeaked by Georgia Friday 1-0, and then faced Salt Lake Community College in a quarterfinal game later that day.
'The field for the quarterfinal game was really yucky because it had poured all day,' Humphries said. 'We were more talented, but the field conditions played into their hands.'
Despite the challenging circumstances, the Cougars dominated the second half and advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 win.
Then the nail-biting began. After scoring early in the second half, a late goal by James Madison sent the semifinal game through two overtime periods and into a penalty kick shoot-out. 'For some reason I felt really confident we were going to win the shoot-out, partially because Brian (Jolley) is such a good keeper,' Humphries said. Jolley came up big with two saves, and freshman midfielder Bryce Jolley kicked in the winning penalty kick to send BYU to the finals.
After playing five games in about 48 hours, the Cougars had four hours to nurse their wounds and get back on the field to play for the title. After almost 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, Hawkins' volley goal straight into the corner of the net was a fitting finish to a roller-coaster season.
'To come back and win against a good team like that was just awesome,' Humphries said. 'It was nice to see all that effort we put forth this year end up with a win.'
The club championship wasn't the only honor picked up by BYU players. Senior midfielder Steve Crook was named tournament MVP, and freshman defender Glenn Puckrin and sophomore defender Nathan Morris were also named to the all-tournament team.