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Cougar Soccer Finally Getting Some Support
By Gordon Monson, Salt Lake Tribune
Oct. 7, 1999
Already, these are halcyon days for Jennifer Rockwood and her band of 28 players who consider themselves part of a revolution at BYU. Of the 250 NCAA Division I teams -- the total, in the swell of Title IX, is burgeoning still -- playing women's soccer, the Cougars' steep ascent to the top of the collegiate heap has come quicker, been more dramatic, than any other program. They are No. 9 with a bullet in the polls. But they might have descended even quicker, more dramatically, than any other, too, had they not averted certain death a month ago when an NCAA committee agreed to alter an earlier decision to ban teams that refused to compete on Sunday from postseason play. "That's a load off our minds," says Rockwood, the coach who not only initiated the women's program at BYU when it jumped to the Division I level five seasons back, but who now looks forward to a strong finish to this season and many more in the future. "We've been good in the past, but this is the best team we've ever had. We've played better soccer with this group than any other. We no longer have to rely on just one or two players to win games for us." Let's back up, to the lowly place where BYU women's soccer dwelled pre-1995. For years, it was a laughable club team, mostly ignored by school administrators. "There was no support," says Rockwood, who played for the Cougars, then coached the club team for six years. "There was a lack of funding, a lack of interest. We paid for our own equipment. We drove to road games in old station wagons. . . . We wore old, leftover uniforms from the men's team. Nothing matched." Even worse, the team in the gauche unis stunk. As the good Inspector used to say, "Noooot anymore." Under Rockwood, the whole thing has blown up. Each year, the Cougars have improved, culminating in a trip to the round of 16 during last year's NCAA tournament. Rockwood built her program on the strength of a few good athletes, basing recent progress largely on the scoring skills of now-graduated Shauna Rohbock and junior Maren Hendershot. But the talent has multiplied. Halfway through this season, the Cougars already have six players in double figures in scoring. During a game against Cal Poly, six players scored goals in a 6-zip win. BYU (11-2) averages 27 shots on goal, opponents just eight. "We're very offensive-minded this year," Rockwood says. "We've been able to control the ball against most of the teams we've played. When we beat Washington, 3-0, we got off 27 shots to their six. We've always had athletes, but now we have more skilled soccer players. We have good speed, a lot of players who can control the ball. Even our defenders are offensive. They are always looking forward." Same as the entire program. Despite a 1-0 loss Monday at Harvard, the coach is psyched to see what happens beginning this week in Mountain West Conference play, and thereafter. Moreover, the Cougars, already a young team, are recruiting, among others, Aleisha Cramer, a prep player from Colorado who subbed in for Mia Hamm on the national team during a match against Ireland two weeks ago. "First, we wanted to be a Top 20 team," Rockwood says. "Now, we're to the point where we are asking ourselves, 'Just how good are we capable of being?' " The still-evolving, year-by-year answer is, for them, rewarding, indeed: Better than they used to be.
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