Soccer champs

    84

    By Shannon McOmber

    LAS VEGAS — Vegas was no gamble for the Cougars this weekend as the BYU women’s soccer team earned another Mountain West Conference Championship.

    BYU nabbed its second consecutive women’s soccer MWC title Saturday afternoon, Nov. 4, blowing away the University of Utah 6-1 in a rival grudge match. All of the Cougar play was explosive during championship weekend as BYU racked up two blowouts in two games – the Cougars also defeated Air Force 8-1 during Friday’s round of tournament play. The victory broke a conference record for the most goals scored in one game.

    Saturday’s championship game was decided by halftime, when the Cougars headed into the locker room sporting a weighty 4-1 lead over the Utes.

    Senior Cougar Natalyn Lewis nailed the Utes’ coffin shut five minutes before the half ended, securing a leeway Utah would find impossible to overcome – and she did so at an angle that would make a protractor bend.

    Lewis stood nearly parallel to the net and across the field when she delivered the fatal, yet near-impossible blow, launching a perfectly positioned ball across the front of the net and angling it squarely into the top left hand corner.

    After that, the last two goals were just for kicks.

    But the show started early.

    The Cougars attacked only eight minutes into the game, as Kim Lowe made good on a pass from teammate Michelle Jensen-Peterson to put the Cougars on the board.

    The Utes quickly answered back with a goal of their own, yet remained offensively silent for not only the remainder of the half, but the remainder of the game.

    But Michelle Jensen-Peterson did not remain quiet at all. Peterson, who was named the tournament MVP at the close of the game, headed a long kick from teammate Jenni Willardson past Utah’s goalie five minutes after the Utes’ only goal. Sarah Reading also added a notch to the Cougar score by placing a high kick above the reach of Utah’s goalie during the 28th minute of play.

    “You can never expect a blowout in soccer,” Cougar coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “You just have to show up and play your best soccer and we did that.”

    And it was what the Cougars were working toward. Nearly all of the Cougars saw the playing field this weekend, as both the starters, and a large portion of the bench, contributed to the tournament games.

    “Winning this tournament has been our goal all season – since August. We wanted to take the tournament and do it while playing the best soccer we could,” Rockwood said, “It has been a total team effort – it has taken all 26 of us.”

    The Cougars will find out what the next phase of the NCAA tournament will bring them when they receive their schedule of play on Monday.

    “There is nothing better than to work so hard for something and then achieve it. What more can you ask for?” senior MVP Michelle Jensen-Peterson said. “Now during these final days of soccer we just need to enjoy it to the end and play the hardest ball we can every moment.”

    But BYU’s accolades do not end there. Not only did the Cougars win the conference, but also four of the 11 member all-tournament team came from BYU. Freshman Aleisha Cramer, senior Michelle Jensen-Peterson, senior Sara Reading and sophomore Jenni Willardson were all awarded the MWC honor.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email