As a roommate, Romy is the “nice guy.” I can’t tell you how often I hear that from the people in our ward. “Mike Moreno is so good-looking,” “Garrett is so funny,” “Jace is so tall,” “Colby Borrowed a movie from us!” but mostly, “Romy is so nice.” I’m still trying to figure out what they mean by that, but it’s better than what they say about me.

Romy is great. If you want a better description of him, think of combining Antonio Banderas with Mark Whalberg and George Clooney(seriously).

In other team news, most of the men’s team participated in the co-ed IPF tournament Saturday. I left early to write this, mostly because we lost to the “staff” in the semi-final and I wasn’t about to risk staying in case they won it all and I’d have to report on that here. Nobody likes giving Coach a chance to gloat.

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I’d like to introduce you to one of our “new players” this season, Josh Patino. I am completely aware that for 90% of the BYU student population, this introduction is superfluous (Josh has over 1,500 facebook friends). Josh played for the team two seasons ago, but this past summer became a thorn in our side when he joined the much-hated Ogden Outlaws, we’re glad to have him back. Josh is, as I mentioned, incredibly outgoing. I feel sorry for his fiance, Heather, because I know she won’t be able to take him anywhere without being stopped by everyone he passes, good luck at the reception line, Heather, wear comfortable shoes. My personal experience with Josh started when I came home from my mission and we started playing together. On the field, Josh is positive, collected and hard working. He is easily the oldest player on the team.

This morning, Josh showed his athletic prowess during our team snowshoeing activity in Aspen Grove when he went two rounds and nearly beat Mike Moreno in a wrestling match. Other epic battles included a Bindrup-Harrison throwdown and a contest of big men Bryson Pope and goalkeeper Brian Hale. Other semi-violent events included ruthless snowball fighting and a no-holds barred snowshoe race, which I won while the rest of the team was busy either tackling contenders or being tackled. For video coverage of the wrestling, check out our Facebook page.Tweet

The official 2012 PDL Team Roster:

Fall 2012 Players:

Cameron McCaughlin

Justin Ward

Sam Watkins

Ace Phillips

Peyden Pemberton

For continued updates and news about BYU Men’s Soccer follow us at our website www.byusoccer.com or at twitter @byusoccerTweet

Check back soon for the official 2012 team roster!

For more Cougar info follow us at www.byusoccer.com and at @byusoccer on twitter.Tweet

BJ Pugmire will play his final game as a Cougar on Thursday. (Daily Universe)

PDF Game Notes

PROVO, Utah (July 19, 2011) — Thursday night the BYU Cougars will finish the 2011 PDL season against the LA Blues 23 at the Stadium at South Field in Provo, Utah. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. MT and the game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and on www.byutv.org/live.

“Our guys are very motivated,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “Our guys really want to prove that we’re a better team than our record. We are excited to go out and get a win for the seniors.”

“We want to end on a good note,” said senior goalkeeper, Cory Cosgrave.

The LA Blues 23 represent a PDL team for the LA Blues organization who also have a USL PRO, W-League, and youth club teams. It will be the second meeting all-time. June 17 the Cougars scored a goal in the first minute and another in the 22nd but gave up three goals to lose 3-2.

“Offensively we were able to get behind their defense and finished a couple of nice goals,” said Watkins. “The Blues had a couple of brilliant shots against us that were world class.” See the box score of this game at this link.

BYU’s 13 goals this season mark a single-season low for the Cougars in the PDL (since 2003). However, 21 goals allowed is the fourth fewest in a single season in BYU history and tied for third (goals allowed per game) in the southwest division.

“Everyone has stuck together,” said BYU senior goalkeeper, Cory Cosgrave. “We set goals to stay organized and not give up silly goals.”

GAME #16 FAST FACTS
LA Blues 23 (3-9-2) vs. BYU Cougars (3-8-4)
Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 8 p.m. MT
Stadium at South Field in Provo, UT

BYU competes in the top U23 semi-professional soccer league in the nation (Premier Development League). BYU players are not paid and do not have athletic scholarships.

Follow the Cougars on www.byusoccer.com and @byusoccer on Twitter.

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“Overall I felt we had the better run of play and we certainly had the chances,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “All the credit in the world to their keeper (Devin Zimmerman) who had a couple of amazing saves.”

The Cougars and Outlaws played a physical game for the first half an hour before BYU struck first with a goal by Oregon State transfer, David Gates in the 29th minute. It was Gates’ second goal of the year.

“David Gates continues to be a nice threat for us and had a great goal today,” said Watkins.

However, late in the first half the Outlaws got the equalizer in the 44th minute as Outlaw forward, Elias Hatungimana, chipped the ball over BYU goalkeeper, Cory Cosgrave.

In the second half BYU put Ogden on its heels but didn’t finish any shots. The game winning goal came in the 67th minute when former Cougar, Josh Patino knocked in a cross off a free kick to make it 2-1 Ogden.

The win gave the Outlaws their second victory of the season and was the fourth game played against BYU in 2011.

May 24 0-0  T (Watch the BYUtv Broadcast of this game)
May 28 1-0  W
July 2   1-1  T
July 16  1-2  L

BYU was 9-0-1 versus the Outlaws in Ogden going into the contest and after the loss the overall series record is 16-3-3.

Watch BYU’s final regular season game on Thursday, July 21 at 8 p.m MT in Provo. It will be live on BYUtv.Tweet

“We’re excited to play against Ogden,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “We’ve played well against them in the past. Obviously we haven’t gotten the result we’ve wanted every time.”

The two teams meet for the fourth time this season with BYU going 1-0-2 in those games. The Cougars lead the series 16-2-3 and are 9-0-1 at Ogden.

May 24  0-0 T (Watch the BYUtv Broadcast of this game)
May 28  1-0 W
July 2    1-1 T

“There’s no love loss,” said Watkins. “We’ve had the better of them in general. I think they are anxious to prove themselves and I think our guys are pretty hungry too. It will probably be another tough, physical matchup.”

It is the final road game of the 2011 season for the Cougars who are 2-3-2 away from Provo with a -5 goal differential. The Cougars are currently in fifth place with 13 points (3-7-4 overall) while Ogden is 1-9-4 with seven points and in seventh place.

BYU had a strong weekend in Southern California last weekend, losing 1-0 in a well-played but disappointing loss to the division leading, Ventura County Fusion on Friday. Saturday the Cougars recorded their third win of the season with a 1-0 result against the Los Angeles Legends.

BJ Pugmire leads the Cougars with five goals and an assist this season. He’s is 4/4 on penalty kicks. The Cougars have a chance to eclipse last year’s win total of four games by winning their remaining two games to reach five. BYU season and home finale is Thursday, July 21 against the LA Blues 23. That game will be broadcast live on BYUtv at 8 p.m. MT.

“At the beginning of the season I don’t think we were playing our best,” said defender, Sterling Hancock. “We lost the ball a lot. Now we are better. We are keeping the ball and we’re creating a lot more chances.

BYU competes in the top U23 semi-professional soccer league in the nation (Premier Development League). BYU players are not paid and do not have scholarships.

Follow the Cougars on www.byusoccer.com and @byusoccer on Twitter.
GAME #15 FAST FACTS
BYU Cougars (3-7-4) vs. Ogden Outlaws (1-9-4)
Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 6 p.m. MT
Bonneville High School in Ogden, UtahTweet

BJ Pugmire scored his fifth goal of the season. (Daily Universe)

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, California (July 9, 2011) — BYU (3-7-4) won its third game of the season Saturday night with a 1-0 victory on the road versus the Los Angeles Legends (1-10-1). The win puts BYU in fifth place with 13 points in the Southwest Division.

“We had a great effort on a back-to-back game,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “I’m impressed with how hard we play every game. Ethan Meyer was great for us tonight.”

Meyer and the Cougars played over an hour of scoreless soccer before forward, Garrett Losee drew a foul in the penalty area resulting in a BJ Pugmire penalty kick to put BYU up 1-0 in the 66th minute.

“I actually felt more pressure than I normally do because of the flow of the game,” said BJ Pugmire. “Now that I’ve done it a lot of times, I pick my spot and I feel comfortable going there.”

The goal was Pugmire’s fifth of the season, four of which have come via the penalty spot (4/4 in 2011). His team leading five goals is the highest for a BYU Cougar since Zach De Francis scored eight in 2008.

Minutes after the PK goal the game got ugly when Legends forward, Victor Raygoza, punched BYU defender Ethan Meyer in the face, resulting in a red card. Ten minutes later, Legends midfielder Abdou Liassou hit BYU midfielder, Colby Bauer for his second yellow and ejection from the game. The Cougars held on for the shutout victory.

“We kept it organized with a lot of talking with the midfielders,” said Meyer. “It means a lot to just win. We’re a good team. I believe we are talented but our record doesn’t show that. It’s always a good thing for us.”

The victory over the Legends marks a series sweep and a chance to finish the season strong with two games remaining.

“It feels good,” said Pugmire. “Today we won. It’s relaxing and we had a good time. Hopefully we can end with two more wins so we can improve from last season.”

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“We clearly played well tonight,” said BYU head coach Chris Watkins. “They had one great shot and we didn’t.”

That shot came with four minutes left in regulation. Fusion forward, Gyasi Zardes slotted a shot from distance beyond the reach of BYU goalkeeper, Cory Cosgrave, for the game winner. Both of Zardes’ goals this season have been against the Cougars.

Friday’s win for the Fusion marks a season sweep with both game-winning goals being scored within the last four minutes of the game. BYU is 0-4-2 against VCF since the first meeting in 2009.

Ventura County continues to sit atop the Southwest Division standings with 31 points and is poised to make the playoffs for the third year in a row after winning the 2009 PDL Championship and the 2010 Southwest Division title.

The Cougars have a quick turnaround with a game Saturday night against a well rested Los Angeles Legends squad who haven’t played since July 3. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Caroline Coleman Stadium. The Cougars only home win of the season came on June 25 against the Legends in a 3-1 win (Watch the game here).

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Junior midfielder, Connor Bassett gives his weekly thoughts about the team in “On the Pitch”.

After one of the most disappointing losses of the season on Thursday night, we were able to bounce back with an impressive win.  The mood of practice today was positive, energetic, and confidence-building.  With several games to go, the players are excited to finish the season strong.  It is interesting to see how a win can give new life to a team.

This year our team has grown close while cultivating a never-give-up attitude.  Now, more than ever, we will move forward with the confidence than we can fight through anything.  Part of what Coach Watkin’s is trying to do here with the BYU soccer team is create winners both on and off the field.  I think that his ongoing confidence in our team has reminded us that, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail”.

Doug Clark’s goal on Saturday was one of the best I’ve seen at BYU and, thus far in the season, its the clear winner of goal of the year.  Unfortunately, Doug’s goal-scoring celebration was not as impressive!  Toni Nicolli finally got married in Seattle this weekend.  We are all very happy not only about his marriage, but also because we don’t have to hear him brag to all the single guys.  Ethan Meyer is home in Dallas this week spending some quality time with his family before he leaves on his mission.  He will be missed on the field; however, since he received his fifth yellow card on Saturday he wouldn’t have able to play this weekend anyway.

Anyway, we are all excited to play Ogden this weekend.  Our rivalry with the Ogden Outlaws always promises excitement!  That’s all for now, and for those of you who watched the game on Saturday on BYUtv, I am going to go meditate. . .Tweet