Spring Season Opens With Two Wins

PROVO, Utah (Feb. 26, 2002) The women's soccer team kicked off its spring season playing Arizona and UNLV in Las Vegas last Saturday.

Senior Jeni Viernes scored the lone goal in the 1-0 shut out over Arizona. The BYU score came in the second half of action after Viernes received a pass from freshman Kimmie Davis. Viernes along with the Cougars other senior, Kelly Hungsberger had strong performances with the most shots on goal for both teams.

"This was a great way for us to start off the spring season," said Coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We have been training since the beginning of January, so it was rewarding to finally get a chance to compete, especially seeing the development of our young players."

"Jeni and Kelly are the only two upperclassman on the current team. They have done a great job leading us over the last several weeks. Since we don't train with this year's seniors, we are looking for younger individuals to step up their level of play and lead our team by example. Both Kelly and Jeni played very well for us."

The Cougars dominated both teams with their possessional play and outshot Arizona 19-6 and UNLV 17-7.

Sophomore Aydre Soffe scored against UNLV with an assist from freshman, Kim Devine. Viernes notched her second goal of the day with a 30-yard strike from outside the box.

"The opportunity for the team to play in spring competition is so vital for the development of our program, and especially for the younger players to get valuable game experience" noted Coach Rockwood. "We are looking forward to the remaining games. We know that we played fairly well this past weekend, but we are capable of playing even better."

BYU will face Arizona State and Oklahoma on Sat., Mar. 1 in Phoenix, Arizona. The games kick off at 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively.