A Different Kind of Football

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Each week thousands of Cougar fans gather under the bright lights to see the show that is Cougar soccer.

This year BYU is returning seven starters, featuring 2011 All-American forward Lindsi Lisonbee, and academic All-American defender Carlee Holmoe. Both Seniors made the 2012 preseason All-WCC team.

“Our team is looking better than ever,” said Holmoe. “I think better than I’ve ever seen us. We have a lot of depth off the bench and we have a lot of great attacking players with a strong defensive line. So we’re excited to see how far we can go.”

The Cougars started the season unranked and after a tough loss to Utah last week, they’re anxious to return to national prominence.

“I think we’re a great team and we get looked over sometimes, but we’re here to prove ourselves,” said Lisonbee.

Still the question remains, why is BYU Women’s Soccer different than so many other collegiate competitions?

“It starts with the head coach,” said Promotions Coordinator Weston Wride. “Coach Rockwood does a great job of understanding the need to connect our athletes with the public. They’re just really personable and the team takes on the character of their leader.”

Last year BYU added an entirely new section of bleachers to accommodate a growing number of fans.

“We had between twenty-nine and thirty-one hundred a game during 2011,” said Wride. “And that was good for second nationally and actually finished first in the country for total attendance.”

Even though soccer is at center stage, there are a lot of other activities off the field as well. Artists, balloons, snow-cones, and the infamous Cosmo all do their job to keep the fans entertained from the moment they walk into South Field Stadium.

All that combines makes BYU Women’s Soccer the second most popular fall sport; behind only a different kind of futbol.

The Women Soccer Team plays Texas this Thursday at 7 PM (MST), and look to set an NCAA record with more than five thousand fans at South Field.

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