By Ben Neilson
With a top seed on the line on Oct. 26, the BYU men”s soccer team turned up the intensity and came away with a 3-1 victory over visiting rival Weber State.
BYU, with a 10-1-0 record this season, will likely be awarded with the first seed next month in the Collegiate Club National Championship at the University of Alabama.
BYU head coach Chris Watkins said the Wildcats presented a serious challenge to his club.
“You could see that athletically and organizationally, they were a good team with a clear game plan,” Watkins said. “It was a contrast of well-coached, hard-working teams, and that is what we needed.”
Senior goalkeeper John Morris said the game helped BYU prepare for the national tournament.
“It”s nice to come out really strong and play a worthy opponent where it”s tight all game long,” Morris said. “It”s very good preparation – a very good team to play right before we go to nationals.”
Junior forward Daniel Yescas said the game was the first time this season the Cougars faced this much pressure.
“We were flat in the first half,” Yescas said. “But we figured out what we were doing wrong. We regrouped and came out strong in the second half.”
Indeed, things were going wrong for the Cougars early in the game. The Wildcats scored the game”s first goal midway through the first half.
The Cougars trailed until junior defender Tom Foster (one goal, one assist this season) tapped in a goal from a corner kick near the end of the half.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 until late in the second half, when Yescas (six goals, two assists) netted a goal off an assist from sophomore midfielder Chad Deshler (two goals, three assists) with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
BYU sophomore forward Matt Affleck (12 goals, five assists) sealed the win two minutes later when he finished an assist from junior forward Brad Peterson (five goals, five assists).
“This is the quality of team you have to beat at nationals,” Watkins said.
With their regular season complete, the Cougars will now go about preparing for a national-championship tournament that they have won four out of the last five years.
The Cougars used their final home contest this year to honor graduating seniors before kickoff. Goalkeepers Morris, Matt Bond, and Dan Lear, along with forward Brandon LeRoy, were each given a ball signed by the team. They were then presented, accompanied by spouses and parents, to cheering fans.
LeRoy said he was slightly reflective before the game, but the nostalgia was gone when the action started.
“Tears came during the national anthem,” LeRoy said. “But once the whistle blows, it”s out of the mind. We”ve got nationals still.”
Morris said the reality of playing his last game at South Field hadn”t set in yet.
“Maybe because I”m so focused on nationals that, even tonight, it still didn”t feel like the last of anything,” Morris said. “My ultimate goal is still so far in front of me.
“But I”m sure tonight I”ll go home and realize I”m not going to play here anymore, and it will set in.”
