Y. soccer team hoping to overcome fading trend

PROVO — Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department, otherwise known as the BYU women's soccer program.

Not that the Cougars are bad, what with single-digit national rankings, a second-place conference finish and an NCAA tournament invite for the second straight season — achievements other teams would envy.

The Cougars want more — and know they are capable of more.

BYU's 2006 season fared almost identically to 2005 — a strong nonconference season against quality opponents with nary a blemish and the rewards of top 20 and top 10 rankings, followed by a Mountain West Conference season in which the team suffered a league setback and a couple of draws en route to a second-place MWC finish. That was followed by a one-and-done Mountain West tournament appearance and upset loss, an invitation to the NCAAs and a first-round ouster there as well. It all felt like a premature finish once again for Cougar soccer, with the 13-3-4 overall record and limited successes hauntingly similar to 2005's 15-2-4 results.

Or, to paraphrase baseball Hall-of-Famer and malapropism master Yogi Berra, it was like deja vu all over again.

BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood eyes the 2007 with anticipation, as the Cougars return nine of their 11 starters, including all-American forward Katie Larkin, freshman all-American defender Andrea Willis, all-West Region defender Jessica Harmon and a pair of first-team all-conference honorees in midfielder Natalie Nate and goalkeeper Erika Woodbury.

The table is set, with Rockwood to welcome back an abundance of experience and talent next fall.

And the Cougars' to-do list will be short and sweet: score more goals, claim a conference crown and win in the postseason.

Simply stated standards of success, but areas where BYU has struggled of late.

Last season, Woodbury, Willis and Harmon headlined a stingy Cougar defense that allowed just four goals in nine conference matches and nine scores in 18 regular-season contests and a dozen shutouts. But the Y. attack failed to overwhelm on offense, managing just 25 regular-season goals. Besides the three regular-season draws, 12 other games were decided by a single-goal margin.

With finishing attacks and scoring goals a common refrain in recent seasons, Rockwood said her team also needs to focus on scoring more on set plays (the Cougars had 121 corner-kick opportunities to their opponents' 50).

"It's more than just physical," said Rockwood of the scoring struggles. "It's also mental."