PROVO -- The BYU women's soccer team shut out Long Beach State 4-0 Thursday night to end the regular season undefeated at home.

The Cougars (17-3, 5-1 conference) held the 49ers to seven shots to post their sixth shutout in seven games. The stingy Cougar defense held opponents to just two goals all season at home.

BYU was invincible in Provo this season, going 12-0 at home with 10 shutouts. This season marks the third year BYU has gone unbeaten at home, with the other two perfect home seasons occurring in 1996 and 1997.

BYU jumped out to an early lead against Long Beach State, scoring three of its four goals in the first 15 minutes. Sarah Higham connected on a pass from Kim Lowe, followed by two quick goals by Sara Reading. Senior All-American Maren Hendershot, playing in her final home game as a Cougar, then converted in the second half to make it 4-0.

Reading had two goals and an assist for the Cougars, while senior Karen Wunderli and Lowe each chalked up two assists. Higham finished with a goal and an assist.

"We came out really strong tonight," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "This was a great note to end the regular season on. It was a full team effort tonight."

Four graduating seniors were honored at Thursday night's game. Hendershot, Wunderli, Shannon Kimball and Leanne Johnson-Weaver all appeared in their final regular season games as Cougars.

Next up for BYU is the Mountain West Conference Championships Nov. 3-5 in Chula Vista, Calif. The Cougars are seeded second behind host San Diego State and first face seventh-seeded Wyoming.

BYU 4, Wyoming
BYU - Sarah Higham, 7:12 (assisted Kim Lowe)
BYU - Sara Reading, 11:47 (assisted by Karen Wunderli and Kim Lowe)
BYU - Sara Reading, 13:08 (assisted by Wunderli)
BYU - Maren Hendershot, 53:18 (assisted by Reading and Higham)

After finishing MWC play with a 5-1 record, 16-3 overall, the Cougar women play their final regular season game, a first-ever meeting with Long Beach State, Thursday, October 28, at 6 p.m. Four graduating senior will be recognized.

Cougars In This Week's Polls

• In Soccer America Poll - Out of top 20

• Ranked 23rd by the NSCAA

BYU Returning Starters To Watch

• 20 Maren Hendershot - F, Sr (13G, 8A, 34PTS, 62SH)

• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Jr (8G, 7A, 23PTS, 44SH)

• 12 Sara Reading - MF, Jr (12G, 2A, 26PTS, 74SH)

• 11 Sarah Higham - MF, So (7G, 8A, 22PTS, 36SH)

• 4 Natalyn Lewis - MF, Jr (4G, 5A, 13PTS, 39SH)

• 14 Karen Wunderli- MF, Sr (3G, 6A, 12PTS, 36SH)

• 00 Jennifer Waldron - GK, So (13 GA, .79Average in Goals Allowed)

BYU Newcomers To Watch

• 5 Rachelle Dixon - 5-6 MF/F, Fr (2G, 2A, 6PTS, 14 SH)

• 18 Jeni Willardson - 5-9 MF/F, Fr (7G, 4A, 18PTS, 30SH)

Cougar Season Highs To Date

• Most goals in a game (team) - eight against Northwestern on 9/4

• Most shots in game (team) - 40 vs University of New Mexico on 10/8

• Most corner kicks in a game (team) - eight vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee 9/9

• Most goals in a game (individual- Sara Reading) - three vs University of New Mexico on 10/8

Cougar '99 Quickie Stats After 19 Games

• Averaging 25.0 shots on goal per game

• Averaging 3.4 goals per game

• Average 3.0 assists per game

BYU vs Long Beach State Notes

Long Beach State will be making its first trip to Provo to meet the Cougars. The 49ers have a 6-11, 4-5 record and are members of the Big West Conference. Jennifer Reott leads LBSU in scoring with four goals and one assist for nine points. Teammate Sarah Agullar follows with five points from two goals and one assist. The 49ers average 13.6 shots per game and .94 goals. Long Beach State hosts Pepperdine Tuesday, October 26 before making the trip to Provo.

Series Against Long Beach State

The series: 0-0, this will be the first meeting between both schools.

Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes

(On the Cougars) We are very pleased with the outcome of this past weekend's games and our practices. The team is very focused and everyone got to play quality minutes in both games. Maren and Sara really sparked us in the Wyoming game after getting those two quick goals. It's good to see everyone focused and playing well. One of our goals was to have an undefeated home season and right now we're just one game away from getting that goal.

(On opponent) We don't know much about Long Beach State and we've never seen them play. They are a second year program that's having a good year, they took San Diego State to two over-times. Right now it doesn't really matter who we play or what their record is, we just have to play our style of game and be focused.

BYU Media Information

At home, the Cougars practice daily from 2 to 5 p.m. Player and/or coach Rockwood interviews may be done in advance by contacting Norma Collett at 801-378-4908 or via e-mail at norma_collett@byu.edu There are no player interviews 24 hours prior to games.

Up Next For The Cougars

BYU will be preparing for the first MWC Soccer Championships, hosted by San Diego State, beginning Wednesday, November 3.