1999 Women's Soccer Season Summary
Winning the first-ever Mountain West Conference title, being one of 48 teams selected to the NCAA Championships for a third time, and recording another undefeated season at South Field, made the 1999 BYU women's soccer season one of the best in its five-year history. Head Coach Jennifer Rockwood once again finished another winning season at the helm of the Cougars' women's soccer program with an impressive 21-4, 5-1 record.
Six straight wins started the 1999 season for BYU, three of those victories on the road. The first loss of the year for the Cougars came at the hands of USC in early September with BYU dropping a 1-2 decision to the Trojans. There were only three other losses this season, all on the road. One loss was at Harvard 0-1, the other to conference foe San Diego State in San Diego 0-2 and finally against Santa Clara in the second round of the NCAA's 0-2.
The team captured its third undefeated season at South Field with a 12-0 record where BYU averaged over 1,000 fans a game with the highest at 2,016 when the Cougars defeated Pac 10 powerhouse Washington 3-0 in late September.
BYU's high powered offense continued to show off its scoring abilities with 76 goals compared to opponents 19. Senior All-America Maren Hendershot led the team for most of the year, finishing her Cougar career with 52 goals, 14 of those in 1999. Junior midfielder Sara Reading edged out Hendershot at the end of the season with her 17 goals and five assists. Another junior midfielder Kim Lowe also scored in double digits for BYU with 12 goals and nine assists. Senior midfielder Karen Wunderli topped the Cougar list in assists with a season and career high 10.
In 1999, the Cougars defense led by three returning starters, did an outstanding job at keeping opponents out of the net, compiling 12 shutouts and allowing only 164 shots on goal. The threesome was headed by juniors Staci Reynolds and Athelia Graham as well as sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Waldron. Aurelin Weidner and Amber Anderson also contributed on defense for BYU.
Competing in the brand new Mountain West Conference gave the Cougar team an opportunity to dominate the league with a 5-1 record and its first ever MWC women's soccer Championship title.
BYU's lone conference loss came at the hands of SDSU, a 0-2 decision favoring the homestanding Aztecs. The Cougars got their revenge over SDSU however, as the two teams met in the MWC title game with BYU picking up the 2-1overtime win.Three Cougars made the MWC All-Tournament Team, led by All-Americans Maren Hendershot, Staci Reynolds and Sara Reading. Hendershot also captured her second straight MVP award. BYU and SDSU were the two teams from the Mountain West Conference who got invitations to the NCAA Championships. Both schools lost in second round action.
The NCAA Women's College Cup Championships provided the BYU team its third straight appearance, hosting the first round against Cal, a 2-0 victory for the Cougars. In second round action, BYU once again met its nemeses team, Santa Clara, who has ousted the Cougars from the tournament the past two years. This year it was no different as the number one team in the country beat the 20th ranked Cougar squad 2-0 to end the 1999 season.
With a NSCAA/Adidas Women's NCAA Div. I final 20th place ranking, the BYU team put an end to what will go down in history as one of its most successful seasons. The season also ended with All-America citations for Maren Hendershot and Staci Reynolds, and All-Region honors to Sara Reading, the most in one season for any player.
