BYU's South Field To Feature First Time Opponents Washington State and Creighton University

After a 1-1 record on its first road trip of the season, a 1-0 loss to Washington and a 4-2 victory over Montana, BYU's soccer team returns home to host Washington State on Sept. 4 at 1 p.m., and Creighton University on Thursday, Sept. 7. Both games will be played at South Field, the Cougars 2,000 seat natural grass field.

Cougars Are Picked To Repeat as MWC Champions

BYU was selected as the favorite to capture its second straight conference title in a vote by the league's coaches.

Place Team (1st place votes) Points

1. BYU (5) 35

2. Utah (1) 31

3. San Diego State (1) 27

4. Air Force 21

5. New Mexico 14

6. UNLV 13

7. Wyoming 6

BYU In Pre-Season Polls

• 20th in NSCAA/Adidas Women's NCAA Div. I Rankings

• 19th in Soccer America Poll

• 16th in Soccer Buzz Poll

2000 Season Highlights

• Record: 2-1-1

• Opened home season with 7-1 win over Weber State

• First Road trip - compiled a 1-1 record with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Washington, rebounding in a 4-2 victory over Montana

• Senior Michelle Jensen Peterson leads the team in scoring with three goals and two assists. She had one goal and two assists in the Montana game.

• Freshman All-America Aleisha Cramer tallied her first collegiate goal for the Cougars. a minute and a half into the Weber State game.

BYU Returning Starters To Watch - 2000 Stats

• 13 Michelle Jensen Peterson - MF/F, Sr (3G, 2A, 8PTS, 8SH)

• 15 Kim Lowe - MF, Sr (2G, 1A, 5PTS, 14SH)

• 18 Jeni Willardson - F, So (2G, 4PTS, 6SH)

BYU Newcomers To Watch - 2000 Stats

• 17 Aleisha Cramer - MF, Fr (2G, 2A, 6PTS, 10 SH)

• 22 Megan Dickerson - 5-6 F, Fr (Midlothian, VA/Midlothian- has not yet played)

• 14 Annie Hoecherl - 5-10 D, Fr (Played in two games, has one goal for her two points to date)

Cougar2000 Quickie Stats

• Averaging 27.7 shots on goal per game

• Averaging 3.7 goals per game

• Average 2.3 assists per game

• Picking up 2.6 corner kicks a game

BYU vs Washington State Notes

Washington State opens the 2000 season on the road in Utah. They take on the Utes on Sunday, Sept. 3 before making the trip to Provo on Labor Day. The Cougars roster includes nine new players. WSU returns its leading scorer in senior Deka De Witt. The forward tallied 10 goals and eight assist during the 1999 season. Washington State averaged 12 shots on goal and 1.7 goals in games.

Series Against Washington State

Record: 0-0.

This will be the first meeting between the two Cougar teams.

BYU vs Creighton Notes

Creighton makes its second appearance at South Field on Thursday, Sept. 7. The Bluejays return nine starters from the 1999 season and are part of the Missouri Valley Conference. In their first two games this year, Creighton has a 0-2 record with losses to Missouri and Saint Louis. They are scheduled to play Northern Iowa and Kansas before making the trip to Provo.

Series Against Creighton

Record: 2-0 favoring BYU.

The Cougars beat Creighton University during the 1995 season (2-1) in Omaha and in Provo in 1996 with the same score.

Coach Jennifer Rockwood Quotes

(On the Cougars) We had some positives from our first road trip of the season. The players are adjusting well to our new lineup and are getting more comfortable with each other. We were disappointed with the loss to Washington, but came back and played a very good game against Montana. The win gave our newer players some confidence coming into our next two home games.

(On Washington State) This will be our first meeting against Washington State who plays in an extremely competitive Pacific-10 conference. We anticipate a very good game from them and we just need to play our best for the full 90 minutes.

(On Creighton) We're excited to play the Bluejays here this season. We haven't seen them for about four years now. They return most of their starters so they'll come in with a lot of playing experience as a team. We just need to come out ready to play and have a desire to win.

The Rockwood File

Jennifer Rockwood begins her sixth season at the helm of BYU's women's soccer program. In the five year history of the Division I program, she has guided her team to two conference championships and three straight appearances in the NCAA Championships beginning with the 1997 season. The Cougars highest finish in the NCAA tourney came in 1998 when BYU finished in the "Sweet Sixteen." Her many honors include being named Coach of the Year by the Western Athletic Conference and by Soccer Buzz in 1996.

Prior to becoming the head coach, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team, for seven years and compiled a 128-25-9 record. In her final two years, she took her teams to first place in the Western National Collegiate Club Soccer Association (NCCSA) championships and to second place in the NCCSA national championships.

A native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Rockwood was a three-sport athlete and was awarded all-league and all-state honors in soccer, basketball, and track. During her high school and collegiate years, she competed in the Olympic Development Program in both Oregon and Utah. Rockwood attended Ricks College on an academic and basketball scholarship for one year and then transferred to BYU, graduating in 1989 with a business administration degree. While at BYU, she played on the soccer club team as a four-year starter at center midfield.

Rockwood coached in the Utah Olympic Development Program and has coached at the youth club and high school levels. She is also currently the director of BYU summer soccer camps which recently put through over 1,400 participants.

Rockwood's Record (11 Years at BYU)

Club team/years: 128-25-9/7

Division I/years: 95-23-1/6

1995 Record: 11-8-1

1996 Record: 22-1-0

1997 Record: 19-4-0

1998 Record: 20-5-0

1999 Record: 21-4-0

2000 Record: 2-1-0

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 heads to Oregon, coach Rockwood's native state, for a first time meeting against Portland on Sept. 12 before returning to South Field to host the University of San Diego on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m.