Kip Critchlow led the Cougars to victory, Friday night. (Daily Universe)

PROVO, Utah (Sept. 24, 2010) — The BYU men’s soccer team dominated Utah State to the tune of 3-1 on Friday night at South Field in Provo.  The Cougars outshot the Aggies, 21-3 and controlled possession the entire game.

“Our starters were brilliant,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins.  “They did a great job of keeping the ball on every occasion and I’m not sure Utah State crossed the midfield stripe but one time while our starters were out on the field.”

BYU scored three minutes into the game with a Tyler Christiansen goal, curled into the far post from a Doug Clark pass out of the midfield.  The Cougars continued holding the ball all of the first half, finishing another goal in the 42nd minute with a laser inside the near post from Janzten Romney, assisted by BJ Pugmire.  The “Y” added a third goal in the 67th minute from Kip Critchlow who found himself wide open on the back post after a beautiful cross from sophomore, Toni Niccoli.  Utah State got on the board with a score in the 85th minute on a header from a set piece.

Chris Watkins was pleased with BYU’s play as well as the attitude of a team, rebounding from a tough PDL summer season.

“The team looked really excited,” he said.  “You could feel the rhythm was there.  The movement was there.  I think we’re excited to be out there to play.”  “We were pinging the ball really well.  We probably connected 10-12 passes on every possession.”

Sophomore midfielder, Kip Critchlow led BYU in assists as a freshman and continued his great possession play Friday night.

“Kip was the man of the match,” said Watkins continued.  “He controlled everything.  He had the ball the whole game and they couldn’t do anything about it.”

BYU next game is Friday, October 8 at 7 p.m. against Weber State.  The alumni game will be played at 4 p.m. the same day.

“I took a little bit from this than I normally would,” said Watkins.  “I really enjoyed watching the team.  They played with great rhythm.”

Starters
F-Janzten Romney, Blake Tillotson
M-Toni Niccoli, Doug Clark, Kip Critchlow, BJ Pugmire
D-Junior Lartey, James Bindrup, Tyler Christiansen, Ethan Meyer
GK-Cory Cosgrave

Scoring Summary
Min.  Goal                               Assist
3′      Tyler Christiansen          Doug Clark
42′    Janzten Romney            BJ Pugmire
67′    Kip Critchlow                  Toni NiccoliTweet

Jarom Jordan

Pedro Vasconcelos will serve a mission in Santa Rosa, California.

Pedro Vasconcelos didn’t always want to go on a mission.  In fact, he wanted (and still does) to be a professional soccer player.  The Brazillian was born in an LDS family, went to church and did the right things but it wasn’t always in the cards to serve an two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  After the good examples of friends and a year at BYU, Vasconcelos received his mission call on July 9 to serve in the Santa Rosa, California mission, Spanish speaking.  He enters the Provo Missionary Training Center on November 30.

“I couldn’t believe it when I read it,” said Vasconcelos.  “I always wanted to go state-side.  I was way happy.  I was way emotional.”

Pedro’s road to this point has accumulated a lot of flyer miles.  Born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil his family vacationed in the United States in 2000 and he returned in 2006 to live with his Aunt during the summer.  There he came in contact with and played for the club, Impact for a while in Salt Lake City.  Returning to Brazil, wanting to one day return, Impact coach, Connie Martin asked if he wanted to come back to the U.S. to play with the team.  Vasconcelos said yes but realized he needed a family to volunteer to host him as a foreign exchange student or else he could be placed anywhere in the country.  That’s where high school and BYU teammate, Matt Rider comes in.

Matt Rider (Left) is serving in Lima, Peru.

Rider and Vasconcelos became best friends while playing club and high school soccer at East.  Rider’s family volunteered to host Vasconcelos and he returned to Utah for his senior year of high school during the fall of 2008 to play in the spring of 2009.  Vasconcelos and Rider teamed up to lead East to a third place finish in Region 6 and a birth into the State Tournament.  Rider was already recruited by BYU and in February, Vasconcelos made the team as well.

This past summer the two became regular starters for the Cougars, an accomplishment rather uncommon for freshmen to do.  Vasconcelos played in 10 of BYU’s 16 games and scored a goal in the final regular season contest against Ogden.  He credits his year at BYU as the most influential of his life.

“It helped me so much to make good choices when I’m around people that make good choices,” he said.  “The BYU environment created a desire to do good in me.”

“Pedro has a real love and passion for the game,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins.   “He has amazing creativity and skill going forward.  He will be a great loss for our team, but we look forward to having him join us in two years.”

Vasconcelos still lives with the Rider’s who saw Matt leave on his mission on August 11 to Lima, Peru.  Pedro is an assistant coach with the East high school girls soccer team and occasionally helps with his old club, Impact.  He will return to Brazil on October 5 to stay with his family until he returns to Provo on November 30 to enter the MTC.Tweet

Watch this video to hear assistant coach, Clay Christenson discuss BYU’s new roster and preparation for Utah State this Friday.

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BYU plays Utah State, Friday at 7 p.m. in Provo. (BYU Photo)

PROVO, Utah (Sept. 20, 2010) — The BYU men’s soccer team opens its fall schedule with a Friday night tilt against in-state rival, Utah State on Friday, September 24 at 7 p.m at the Stadium at South Field.  It is the first of three games in four weeks for the Cougars.  All tickets are $5.

“We want to get a win,” said assistant coach, Clay Christenson.  “We’ve structured practice to get the best 11 on the field and they’ll get the opportunity to prove themselves.  I’m anxious to see who will rise to the occasion.  No doubt Utah State is looking forward to it too.  They’ve got a good team and given us a good game the last few years.”

In 2009 BYU beat USU, 2-0 on September 25.  The Cougars started eight freshman, highlighted by rookie, Nils Lofgren (81st minute) and senior, Britton Osborne’s (88th minute) goals while Jake Petersen and Bryan Black combined for a shutout.

BYU returns 19 of the 30 players from the Premier Development League roster and four starters.  A lot of new faces will don the Cougars blue, Friday with an expected game roster of 18 players.

“We’ll probably have a good rotation to get other guys a good look because there is a lot of talent out here,” said Christenson.

BYU will play a three-game fall exhibition schedule with additional contests against Weber State (Oct. 8), and Utah Valley (Oct. 15).  All three are at the Stadium at South Field in Provo and kickoff at 7 p.m.  The alumni game is set for October 8 at 4 p.m.

Follow the Cougars on www.byusoccer.com and www.twitter.com/byusoccer

Premier Development League
BYU’s summer schedule is in the Premier Development League.  After winning seven club national championships, the Cougars joined the PDL in 2003. The Cougars reached the elite eight in 2006 and 2007. The PDL is the top U23 men’s league in North America and features 68 teams within four conferences across the United States and Canada. The PDL season consists of 16 regular season matches for each team, eight home and eight away. The PDL provides elite collegiate players the opportunity to taste a higher level of competition while maintaining their eligibility. BYU is the first and only university to own a franchise in the PDL. In addition to league play, PDL teams compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as various exhibitions. The USL Premier Development League has proven to be an important stepping stone for top professionals now playing around the world.

Quick Facts
What: Men’s Soccer — Utah State @ BYU
When: Friday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
Where: The Stadium at South Field in Provo, UtahTweet

Assistant Coach, Clay Christenson gives his thoughts about the team on the blog known as “From the Box”.

Everyone is excited for Friday night’s kickoff against USU and we’re anxious to watch our younger players showcase their talent. During the few fall practices we’ve had the guys have fought to earn a spot on the field this weekend and if things go well we’ll have a generous rotation so we can get a look at a lot of them.

One of the downsides to having so few practices is we haven’t had a lot of time to gel as a team and know how to play together. The talent and effort are there, and we’re hoping that the chemistry also comes together, but much of that will depend on the players themselves. We only have a few practices to go before our first game, and we’ll put the players into as many difficult scenarios as possible to help foster as much cohesiveness as possible.Tweet

Assistant Coach, Clay Christenson gives his thoughts about the team on the blog known as “From the Box”.

The tryout went well.  It’s difficult when you have 50 players show up to prove themselves and they only have two hours to do it. The good news is that the quality of our team continues to improve, but the bad news is that we have to turn away a lot of good players.

The fall season is very important for our program. Not only is it a time to prepare and develop younger talent, but it’s a great opportunity for our guys to gain experience against quality opponents. We want to develop winners, the best players will be on the field and because the season is so short, the players who’ve worked hard in the off season will show well.Tweet

Watch a feature story on senior forward, BJ Pugmire by BYU Weekly reporter, Brendan Hartigan on BYUtv next week on the show sometime during the following times.

9/19/2010 12:00AM
9/21/2010 11:30 PM
9/22/2010 12:30 PM, 6:30 PM

Click here to see the BYU Weekly website.

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PROVO, Utah (Sept. 16, 2010) — Chris Watkins and the BYU coaching staff announced a 32-player, fall roster today.

“We’re glad to have a few new bodies on the team, guys who will bring some new excitement and energy, and hopefully some added dimension to the team,” said Watkins.

BYU will play a three-game fall schedule with contests with Utah State (Sept. 24), Weber State (Oct. 8), and Utah Valley (Oct. 15).  All three are at the Stadium at South Field in Provo and kickoff at 7 p.m.  The alumni game is set for October 8 at 4 p.m.

“Typically the goal of our fall season is to get our younger players, the guys just off missions or the freshman who just came in, to get them some minutes.  This year we’re doing it a little bit different.  Because we struggled a little bit over the summer, we don’t have the quality to compete in the southwest division (of the Premier Development League) like we’d like to have.  So we’re going to play our primary players a lot more this fall than we have in the past.”

The team retained 17 players from the PDL roster and 10 walked-on. Zach De Francis, Cameron Lamb, and Bryan Black will graduate in April but will not continue to play with the team.  Brady Marshall has moved to California.  The Cougars lose three players to LDS missions in Matt Rider, Pedro Vasconcelos, and Trevor Henderson.  Four seniors graduated from the PDL team in Brent Jensen, Britton Osborne, Drew Van Wagenen, and KC Whitworth.

The Cougars welcome back three returned missionaries to the fold in Dustin Graham, Mike Moreno, and Scott Heaton.

“They’ve got a long ways to go with their fitness, quality, and touch but they bring a lot of excitement and creativity when they get their full fitness back,” said Watkins.   “They will add a lot to our team.”

Freshman Ethan Meyer and Matt Kimball also join the team as the last of the two recruits to finish play with their summer club teams.

The team practiced for the first time this afternoon from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Haws Field.  BYU will practice and play games through the middle of October and train in preparation for February tryouts for the 2011 PDL team.

Here’s the list in alphabetical order.

Tyler Arens
Connor Bassett
James Bindrup
Tyler Christiansen
Doug Clark
Cory Cosgrave
Kip Critchlow
Thomas Day
Spencer Dunlop
Zack Dupaix
Garrett Gee
Dustin Graham
Sterling Hancock
Scott Heaton
Matt Kimball
Corey Krewson
Matt Kurtz
Junior Lartey
Ethan Meyer
Mike Moreno
Toni Niccoli
Josh Patino
BJ Pugmire
Jaddon Rogers
Jantzen Romney
Lance Smith
McKay Steggell
Nate Stoven
Blake Tillotson
Dallan Turnbull
Scott Whitworth
James Wulfenstein

Guide:
Bold=2010 PDL team members
Underlined=Incoming Freshman Recruits
Italics=Returned Missionaries
Normal Text=Walk-On’sTweet

If you want to watch or rewatch the BYUtv broadcasts from 2010 Premier Development League season, go this link on BYUtv’s website.  Only three of the games are up right now but the other four should be up in the coming weeks.

May 12    U21 Mexican National Team
May 21    Los Angeles Legends
May 22    Lancaster Rattlers
June 19   Orange County Blue Star
July 8      Hollywood United Hitmen
July 10    Ventura County Fusion
July 16    Fresno Fuego

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In 2006, BYUtv produced a documentary, following the BYU men’s soccer team on its pre-season trip to Mexico. The documentary shows the team’s highlights from exhibitions against Pachuca and Clube America, firesides in the community, visiting locals, service projects, and the effect the University and team have on their lives.

Watch it below, on BYUtv Saturday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m., or online at this link.

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