Score first, score early and score again.
That phrase is written on the whiteboard of the BYU women’s soccer team room. It never gets erased.
This motto has not only shaped the style of play at BYU, but it has become a part of the legacy of the program.
And the face behind this incredible legacy is none other than head coach, Jennifer Rockwood.
With 31 years at the helm, Rockwood has created a legacy and culture that will long endure after her coaching career is over. She is considered a legend in the women’s soccer world.
From 26 NCAA tournament appearances to recently winning the Big 12 Conference title for the first time in school history, she is the winningest active female head coach in the NCAA.
She has led the program to a 464-136-62 record and concluded the 2025 season with a record of 11-7-6, featuring a Sweet 16 run in the national tournament. Her winning percentage is .748 and she has been with the program since she was a player and took over as head coach in 1995.
A major career highlight was reaching the College Cup in 2021, making it all the way to the national championship, falling just short in penalty kicks to Florida State. She did it again in 2023, again falling just shy of the finals in the semifinal game against Stanford.
Rockwood knows how to put a team together and win big games. She instills in her players the values of grit and selflessness and teaches them to be accountable and adaptable. Developing great soccer players is just half of it; rather, she feels she has a bigger calling to develop young women to be the best versions of themselves and inspire the next generation.
With success after success and 31 years later, what keeps Rockwood going?
“It’s a grind … but I love it," she said. "You want your players to have the best experience they can and so that motivates me to try and be at my best so that I can provide an environment where they can excel, they can grow, they can learn, they can mature."
Rockwood has said that she takes her coaching career “year by year,” but with a strong vision and a desire to win a national championship, she will be continuing her career and building the program at BYU to what it has become.
The BYU soccer style of play consists of a relentless attacking mindset that coincides directly with the quote on that whiteboard. Scoring goals again and again is something that is ingrained into the players, as well as a deep passion for winning. This style that Rockwood and her coaching staff strive to teach their players is a little bit unique in the NCAA — the art of a high press.
"It is a high pressing, high energy, high risk versus reward style of play," said BYU assistant coach Brent Andersen. "Many coaches are more risk averse and won’t expose the space in behind the team by constantly pressing high up the pitch.”
He added that “consistent pressing requires a very high level of fitness from each player to be effective and successful. The reward is winning the ball higher up the pitch in your attacking half when the opponent is opened up and allows for quick counterattacking opportunities.”
This pressure system has proved very effective for Rockwood and the Cougars, as they are known to be one of the most fit teams in the country, as well as scoring a total of 285 goals in the last five years.
However, contrary to this “super athletic” or “physically fit” player personnel that is required in the system, Rockwood focuses her recruiting of players on characteristics such as work ethic, desire and internal character.
She believes these are the qualities that define players, beyond just pure athleticism.
BYU has a unique culture in regards to being owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With this, naturally many member soccer players are drawn to BYU even without already being recruited.
Rockwood knows most of these players from the time they were little and watches them play all throughout club and high school.
“Obviously they have to be a special player, a really good player. But that is not all we look at. We just look to try as much as we can when recruiting to find a player that wants to be at BYU for all the right reasons, not just soccer,” said Rockwood.
This approach has empowered her players to become great leaders.
“Jen has shown me what real leadership actually looks like: being confident and loving your people well," said current star forward and captain Ellie Walbruch. "She pushes me to use my voice even when it’s hard and hold my teammates to a high standard.”
Players like Walbruch, and many others over the last 31 years, have been left with an everlasting impression that they can become great leaders. They have the power and desire to grow not just into great players, but also into powerful, strong women.
“Once you have been through the ups and downs and the grind of the highs and lows as an elite athlete at an elite program, that just sets you up in life to be successful,” said Rockwood.
She then added, “We hope that our girls can grow up and become the best moms they can be and also leaders in whatever field they choose to go into after their time here.”
In college soccer, the job is simple: win. In a perfect world, that would happen every time. But in a game, like soccer, often decided by inches, that isn’t realistic.
“At the end of the day, if you can look yourself in the mirror and say that you have done the best you can, I think sometimes that really is all you can do,” Rockwood said.
She emphasized that standard with her coaching staff and her players — not a demand for perfect performances, but for perfect effort and a relentless desire to get back up when they fall.
After three decades of coaching and a wealth of experiences, Rockwood continues to lead and guide her players on and off the field, building a legacy that will be remembered for the ages.