PROVO -- A determined BYU women’s soccer club put together a strong effort against the defending national champion USC Trojans but fell just short as the Trojans advanced on penalty kicks after the teams tied 1-1 in double overtime.

The Trojans made three goals to the Cougars’ two in the shootout as former Alta High School player Megan Ohai clinched the victory for the Trojans. Katie Larkin made the first shot for the Cougars, but USC goalkeeper Kristen Olsen managed to block Alyssa Vander Veur’s and Katie Hodgkiss’ shot attempts and sealed the win for USC. BYU’s Nicole Urry made her shot, but it was too late as Ohai slipped it past BYU goalie McKinzie Olson.

Two 10-minute overtime periods resulted in close opportunities for the Cougars to come out with a win, but in the end it was to no avail. A Karen Cook shot sailed through the hands of USC’s Olsen and hit the left post, but after a mad scramble the Trojans were able to kick it out.

“I’m proud of my team,” said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “I think this is one of the best teams our program has ever had. We thought going into this game that we could pull it off.”

A defensive first half allowed USC to control the ball on the BYU side of the field too often as the Trojans outshot the Cougars 8-3.

The Cougars took advantage of their limited opportunities to score in the first half as a shot by Alyssa Vander Veur sailed wide left. On another attempt, a header by Kassidy Christensen landed in USC goalie Kristen Olsen’s arms.

A dominant USC offense led the Cougars in shots on goal in the first half five to one. BYU goalkeeper Olson kept busy on her way to four impressive saves.

USC’s leading scorer, Amy Rodriguez, managed three shots on goal with Ashli Sandoval and Ashley Nick attempting shots as well. On one possession, forward Brittany Kerridge took the ball outside the Cougar box and passed forward to Nick, who headed the ball past a diving Olson for a 1-0 Trojan lead at the 28-minute mark of the first half.

BYU came out quickly in the second half, reversing the trend and keeping the Trojans on the defensive.

Alyssa Vander Veur put a corner kick into the center of the Trojan box where the ball was loose in the box before BYU defender Andrea Willis got a hip on it to nudge it into the left corner of the net to tie the score at 1-1. Kelsea Kakadelas was one of the Cougars who got a foot on the ball during the frenzy.

The Cougars won the shots-on-goal category in the second half with six to the Trojans’ four. Senior Katie Hodgkiss had two shots, while Larkin also got a shot off. At the end of the match, the Cougars nearly matched the Trojan shots with 13 to USC’s 14.

“At halftime, I told the girls to settle down a little bit,” Rockwood said. “I think they came out and moved the ball around better and showed more confidence.”

BYU keeper Olson had seven saves total to USC’s Olsen’s three.

USC will move on to play the winner of UCLA and San Diego in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

“USC is a good team and we wish them the best,” Rockwood said.

---
                            Soccer Box Score (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
                    BY vs USC (Nov 15, 2008 at Provo, Utah)
BY (18-5-1) vs.                                             Goals by period       1  2 OT O2  Tot
USC (17-4-1)                                                -------------------------------------
Date: Nov 15, 2008  Attendance: 1691                        BY..................  0  1  0  0 -  1
Weather:                                                    USC.................  1  0  0  1 -  2
BY                                                      USC
Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A               Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A
------------------------------------------              ------------------------------------------
GK  32 OLSON, McKinzie.....   -   -  -  -               GK  0  Olsen, Kristin......   -   -  -  -
F   3  ANDERSON, Lauren....   -   -  -  -               MF  5  Kerridge, Brittany..   1   1  -  1
D   4  COOK, Karen.........   -   -  -  -               MF  8  Sandoval, Ashli.....   3   1  -  -
MF  5  FELLER, Whitney.....   -   -  -  -               D   10 Strong, Stacey......   -   -  -  -
D   10 CARTER, Jessica.....   -   -  -  -               D   11 Haug, Karter........   -   -  -  -
D   11 WILLIS, Andrea......   2   1  1  -               F   12 Rodriguez, Amy......   6   4  -  -
MF  15 KAKADELAS, Kelsea...   1   -  -  -               D   15 Currier, Janessa....   -   -  -  -
MF  16 JANIS, Auna.........   -   -  -  -               MF  16 Nick, Ashley........   2   2  1  -
F   18 LARKIN, Katie.......   1   -  -  -               MF  17 Tomer, Marihelen....   -   -  -  -
F   22 HODGKISS, Katie.....   3   -  -  -               D   18 Holmes, Meagan......   -   -  -  -
D   25 URRY, Nicole........   1   1  -  -               MF  19 Ohai, Megan.........   -   -  -  -
     ---------- Substitutes ----------                       ---------- Substitutes ----------
    7  MARSHALL, Jennie....   -   -  -  -                   2  Loucks, Nini........   -   -  -  -
    9  DRAEGER, Amanda.....   -   -  -  -                   3  Davila, Alyssa......   -   -  -  -
    12 RIDDLE, Becca.......   -   -  -  -                   4  Freyer, Ashley......   -   -  -  -
    14 JAMESON, Ashleigh...   1   1  -  -                   20 Finch, Kelley.......   -   -  -  -
    21 CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy   1   -  -  -                   25 Butcher, Carly......   2   -  -  -
    23 VANDER Veur, Alyssa.   3   1  -  -                      Totals..............  14   8  1  1
       Totals..............  13   4  1  0
BY                                                      USC
## Player                 MIN  GA Saves                 ## Player                 MIN  GA Saves
---------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------
32 OLSON, McKinzie..... 110:00  1     7                 0  Olsen, Kristin...... 110:00  1     3
Shots by period       1  2 OT O2  Tot                   Saves by period       1  2 OT O2  Tot
-------------------------------------                   -------------------------------------
BY..................  3  6  2  2 - 13                   BY..................  4  2  1  0 -  7
USC.................  8  4  1  1 - 14                   USC.................  1  0  1  1 -  3
Corner kicks          1  2 OT O2  Tot                   Fouls                 1  2 OT O2  Tot
-------------------------------------                   -------------------------------------
BY..................  1  2  1  2 -  6                   BY..................  5  5  0  0 - 10
USC.................  1  1  1  0 -  3                   USC.................  5  6  0  1 - 12
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                                  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   16:57 USC      Nick, Ashley (5)         Kerridge, Brittany
 2.   61:16 BY       WILLIS, Andrea (2)       (unassisted)
 3.  110:00 USC      Ohai, Megan              Shootout
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
YC-USC #19 (19:06); YC-BY #21 (43:04)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS:
BY: 18/Y 23/N 22/N 25/Y
USC: 15/Y 10/Y 11/Y 19/GWG
USC wins shootout 3-2
Officials:
Offsides: BY 1, USC 0.

PROVO -- The NCAA announced the 2008 Women’s Soccer College Cup Bracket on Monday, and the Cougars will host the first and second rounds of the tournament for the first time since 2002.

“We’re just so excited,” said head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “We knew we had an outside chance to host, and the girls are really excited. We get great support at home, and it’s another chance for our seniors to play at home, so we’re looking forward to it.”

No. 22 BYU (17-5-0, 7-0-0 MWC) will play against No. 25 Virginia Tech (10-8-4, 4-4-2 ACC) on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. The two other teams coming to Provo are No. 10 USC (15-4-1, 5-3-1 Pac 10) and Boston University (15-5-1, 8-0-0 America East), both will also play on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. The winners of each game will meet in the second round at South Field on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

The meeting between BYU and Virginia Tech will be the first meeting between the two schools. Virginia Tech lost to No. 1 North Carolina 3-0 in the ACC Tournament Championship Game. The Cougars are 2-0 (1-0 at home) all-time against Boston University. The teams last played in 2001, with BYU winning 4-0. BYU is 2-3-2 all-time. (2-0-1 at home) against Southern California. The last time the Cougars faced the Trojans was in 2004 in Los Angeles, battled to a 1-1 in two overtimes. USC is the defending National Champion, defeating Florida State 2-0 to win the 2007 College Cup.

Tickets will go on sale Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Prices for All Session tickets (to all three games) are $15 for reserved seat tickets, $12 for adult general admission tickets, $7 for student general admission tickets, and $1 for children general admission tickets. Prices for single game tickets are $10 for reserved seat tickets, $7 for adult general admission tickets, $4 for student general admission tickets and $1 for child general admission tickets. Tickets can be ordered online at www.byutickets.com, by calling the Marriott Center ticket office at 800-322-BYU1 (2981) or 801-422-BYU1 (2981), or in person at the Marriott Center ticket office.

Updated game times, ticket prices and other information will be available at the BYU women’s soccer home page at www.byucougars.com/soccer_w/.

This appearance will be the 11th trip to the NCAA tournament for the Cougars in the past 12 years. BYU’s best performance in the tournament took place in 2003, when the team advanced to the Elite Eight.

A complete pdf bracket of the tournament can be accessed by clicking the link at the top of the release.