By Kurt Plaster
BYU is anxious to get back on the field Friday night welcoming St. Mary”s to Provo in their first-ever meeting at 7 p.m.
“We all want to come out and prove we are a good team,” freshman forward Jaime Rendich said.
The Cougars are fresh off a humbling defeat at he hands of No. 3 UCLA, 6-0, on Wednesday.
“It”s been a wake-up call for us. It has allowed us to think about the game and what we need to work on,” junior forward Jenn Fielding said.
“The coaches told us to put it behind us and to just move on,” Fielding said.
Not only are the Cougars moving on but the team is also focusing on adjustments that need to be made in order to improve.
“There is not a lot we can do about the loss to UCLA. Hopefully as we work hard good things will start to happen for us,” head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We struggle with confidence, we just played a very good team that beat us.”
The recent loss to the Bruins provides incentive for the Cougars to come out with pride in themselves in order for the team to find more success this season.
“We need to pick up the pace and quality of our practices,” Fielding said.
The Cougars hope to regain some confidence by playing in front of the home fans and feeding off the energy of the crowd.
“I feel bad if we lose because everyone is cheering us on,” Rendich said.
“I get a lot more pumped to play at home,” sophomore forward Twink Krainik said.
Up until the start of this season BYU boasted a 52-8-1 home record. This season however, they are 3-2 at home.
“I love home games. We have some awesome fans and it pumps us up so much to play in front of them,” Rendich said.
“When there are more fans I get more pumped up to play,” Krainik said. “You never want to lose in front of your fans that are out there supporting you.”
St. Mary”s is lead by senior goalkeeper Ruth Montgomery. She was Soccer America”s 2001 Most Valuable Player. She has 29 career shutouts and is just two away from the school record.
Sophomore forward Sarah Burgess is another St. Mary”s player BYU must focus on. She has scored in four consecutive games. Most recently contributing to a 3-0 victory over San Jose St. on Tuesday.
The two teams have similar records this season (3-4-1 for St. Mary”s and 3-5 for BYU). Both advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year before being eliminated.
After the match, BYU begins a six game road trip starting on Oct. 3 against Washington State and ending Oct. 19 at Notre Dame.
During the stretch of road games the Cougars begin Mountain West Conference action against Air Force on Oct. 10, Wyoming on Oct. 12, and New Mexico on Oct. 17.
Tonight”s match will be telecast live on KBYU/BYUTV. It is the second of three matches that will be on TV this year.
