BYU riding depth, national ranking into MWC tourney

PROVO — When the postseason arrives, most teams look to step up to the next level. For the BYU women's soccer team, the Cougars are looking to return to that level.

A perennial West Region powerhouse and top-25 program the past decade, the Cougars enjoyed a stranglehold on the regular-season and tournament championships during the Mountain West Conference's first four years, from 1999 to 2002. The following year, the Cougars finished second in both the regular season and MWC tournament, only to rip off three straight 2003 NCAA tournament victories to reach the Elite Eight.

Since then, the Cougars haven't won a postseason match, faltering in the first round of the previous two MWC tournaments — a first-ever loss to Air Force in 2004 and last year's upset at the hands of San Diego State — as well as falling in penalty kicks to Weber State in the first round of the 2005 NCAAs.

As the Mountain West tournament begins Wednesday in Salt Lake City, the Cougars are guaranteed not to repeat the first-round losses of the last two years. The league has trimmed the format to a six-team bracket, with the top two seeded squads earning first-round byes.

"We get to make the semifinals now," quipped BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood after her Cougars clinched second place in the final standings with Saturday's 2-0 victory over UNLV.

So while the Cougars didn't win their first regular-season title in four years (that went to Utah, which ran the MWC table in undefeated fashion), they have a chance to win their first tournament crown in the same span.

"Obviously, we haven't done as well as we would have liked (in past postseasons)," said Rockwood, whose team comes in ranked No. 13 nationally and holds NCAA aspirations as well. "Hopefully we'll carry this momentum and this excitement and this confidence into the conference tournament."

Ironically, the Cougars' 2003 Elite Eight run came after the Cougars lost 2-0 to Utah in Salt Lake City in the MWC championship match.

BYU concluded the 2006 regular season with a 13-2-3 regular-season record, including a 9-1-1 nonconference mark and a season-best No. 9 national ranking before falling to defending champ Utah and playing to draws with SDSU and New Mexico in conference action.

To date, the Cougars' 2006 season is eerily similar to 2005, when BYU finished 15-2-4 overall, enjoyed several victories over top-25 nonconference foes, peaked at a No. 6 national ranking and then went 4-1-2 for second place in the Mountain West before the aforementioned postseason missteps.