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.”

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

Jarom Jordan

Box Score

BJ Pugmire scored his first goal of the season. (BYU Photo)

OGDEN, Utah (May 28, 2011) — On a rainy Saturday night the BYU Cougars took down rival, Ogden on Saturday night 1-0 for the first win of the Premier Development League season. BYU is now 6-2-2 overall and 1-2-2 in PDL play.

“It was nice to get three points,” said senior midfielder, BJ Pugmire. “Hopefully we can come back from the break and have some more confidence and pick up where we left off.”

In the second meeting between the Cougars and Outlaws of the week BYU shutout Ogden in both matches and scored its second goal of the season by BJ Pugmire in the 30th minute. The game was physical in the wet conditions featuring 26 combined fouls and nine cautions including two for BYU sophomore defender, Jonathan Junca. BYU out shot Ogden 13-9 and and tied with five corners each.

“It was a great night for the team,” said assistant coach, Clay Christenson. “The win wasn’t pretty, but well deserved for the hours and effort of preparation. Probably more important is that we head into a week-long break on a positive note, which will bring more confidence when we return.”

The Cougars next set of games is in two weeks on June 10 and 11 versus the Orange County Blue Star and the Southern California Seahorses. The matches will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

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BJ Pugmire and the Cougars play Weber State, Friday at 6 p.m. (Daily Universe)

PROVO, Utah (Oct. 6, 2010) — BYU and its alumni are preparing for a weekend of reunion and matches as the Cougars play Weber State, this Friday at 6 p.m. and the Alumni play Utah Valley at 8 p.m. at South Field. Tickets go for $5 each for the first game, while the second game is free. The Alumni will also play each other Saturday at 12 p.m. for free.

“I know they (Weber State) always play us really well,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “They bring out a good team. They really compete hard against us and that’s what we need right now. It’s a great match for us.”

BYU is 1-0 in the fall season after a 3-1 win against Utah State on September 24. Senior defender, Tyler Christiansen gave the Cougars the lead three minutes into the game. Jantzen Romney added a goal before the half for the game-winner and Kip Critchlow scored in the second half to seal the victory.

“I think we are probably a better team than we were a year ago,” said Watkins. “I like our team now for sure. The difference now is we struggle to score goals. Any game is competitive if you struggle to score goals. It’s not life or death to win or lose. It’s really important for us to play well and show improvement.”

In 2009 the two teams tied 1-1 in a double overtime draw. Blake Tillotson scored for BYU in the first half and Weber State’s Kyle Christensen scored in the 83rd minute for the tie. The Wildcats are a club team competing in the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. The Wildcats won the national championship in 2009. BYU competed in the same league prior to 2003.

“We’ve got a lot to prove,” said senior forward, BJ Pugmire. “This year everyone is coming back really committed. Weber is a very physical team. They’re the club national champions. They’ve got a good resume. They’re a good team. They’ll be the best competition we’ve played thus far but I’m pretty confident in the way we are playing right now that we’ll be able to show well and dominate possession as usual.”

Prior to BYU’s entrance into the Premier Development League in 2003, the Cougars won seven national titles between 1993 and 2001. BYU expects 45-50 alumni to return to Provo for a game or two of action plus a close up look at the 2010 fall team and some fund raising opportunities.

“It’s a fun weekend for a lot of us,” said Watkins. “It’s good for our players to see and appreciate the alumni.”

The Cougars wrap up the fall season with a game against Utah Valley next Friday, October 15 at 7 p.m. in Provo.

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

Quick Facts
What: Men’s Soccer — Weber State @ BYU
When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m.
Where: The Stadium at South Field in Provo, Utah

What: Men’s Soccer — Utah Valley @ BYU Alumni
When: Friday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.
Where: The Stadium at South Field in Provo, Utah

What: Men’s Soccer — BYU Alumni vs. BYU Alumni
When: Saturday, Oct. 9 at 12 p.m.
Where: Haws FieldTweet

Catch up with the BYU men’s soccer team at practice today by listening to head coach, Chris Watkins and senior forward, BJ Pugmire. They discuss the practice conditions, the new faces of the fall season, and the upcoming matchup with Weber State this weekend.

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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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Junior forward, BJ Pugmire drops some of his writing skills on the blog with his weekly look at the different aspects of the BYU soccer program.

In this weeks profile story, we will highlight a player who is playing in his first year with the Cougars, but has already had a very positive influence on the team. One interesting fact that many might not know about Kip Critchlow, is that he is the grandson of Dale Critchlow who plays the part of the old man in Napolean Dynamite that shoots the cow.

Kip is another Utah native on the team that was discovered by coach Chad Sackett while playing with the men’s league team Olympique Montreux out of Salt Lake.  He is the third of four children in his family and claims that he was a soccer player from the start.

“I don’t really remember ever playing other sports as a kid,” Critchlow said. “My oldest brother played soccer and I remember starting to play with him in the backyard, and then later on the playground and I just stuck with it.”

Growing up Critchlow played with the club team the Nighthawks who were the Utah state champs in 2004. In his junior season at Hillcrest High Kip was an honorable mention, all-state player.

Within the ranks of the team Kip is known as the man who can run forever and also one who can spit rhymes.

In preseason training the joke on the team and the sad reality for us, was that Kip was in a league of his own. We were separated into different groups based on our physical fitness and Kip literally had a group created just for him that no one else was worthy of.

In response to the question of how he became so fit, Kip said, “It’s all natural I guess, I have a lot of dreams where I run away from people so that might be it.”

As far as spitting rhymes (battling people with words and a beat) is concerned, I can remember sitting next to Kip on the bus home from Las Vegas and listening to him pick apart different players who thought they could battle him. My personal nickname for Kip is Deejay Critchflow.

“Kip has some pretty mad skills,” said freshman teammate Matt Rider jokingly. “But I’m not scared to battle him anytime any place.”

Kip said he enjoyed listening to rap growing up and then when his family bought their first Mac he learned to use garage band and started creating his own beats which helped him to progress.

As for now Kip is excited to finish off the season well and hopes to serve a mission in the near future. He has no idea what he wants to study, but hopes to learn Spanish on his mission and return and continue his studies. He said his favorite player is Zidane and loves the style of play Zidane had. Finally, Kip is rooting for the Netherlands Sunday in the World Cup Final!Tweet

Robbie Bullough produced a couple of videos for BYUtv, shown below.  The first is the entire roster in alphabetical order, on camera.  BYUtv edits this to show the starters for each broadcast.  The second video is P.I.G. soccer style with BJ Pugmire and Toni Niccoli.

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Jarom Jordan

BJ Pugmire hit the crossbar, Saturday night. (BYU Photo)

PROVO, Utah (June 19, 2010) — In a game featuring a combined six cautions and one ejection, the Orange County Blue Star kept their undefeated record intact Saturday night by beating BYU, 3-0. The Blue Star is now 8-0-3 while BYU drops to 2-5-2, losing its third home game in four tries.

“Our guys really worked hard,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “I feel bad for them. We’ve got a lot of good goal scorers. They are not great goal scorers but you get a little tight in a game like this. You want it so badly and we just missed a couple sitters there that we normally would put away.”

Blue Star forward, Amani Walker, scored his league-leading 12th goal of the season in the 28th minute on a backwards flick on the ground from teammate, Cito Soriano. In the 32nd minute BYU junior forward, BJ Pugmire shot a rocket outside the right side of the box that hit the crossbar after a finger tip save from Orange County keeper, Patrick McLain. Soriano changed the game with his earlier assist but more with red card in the 38th minute after an attempted elbow at BYU defender, James Bindrup’s head. Playing up a man for the final 52 minutes, BYU had a bevy of attacking chances in the second half.

In the 62′ Brit Osborne delivered a beautiful cross that Zach De Francis headed at goal only to see it ricochet from McLain to a Matt Rider shot which was deflected by a defender, and KC Whitworth blasted it over the goal, out of play. The Cougars couldn’t convert any of their 13 shots while the Blue Star added two short handed, counter attack goals by Celso Alvarez in the 80th minute and Christian Ramirez in the 90th minute. Both scored their first goals of the season.

The Cougars will now prepare to travel, by bus to Fresno next week to play the Fuego on Thursday, June 24.

Postgame Notes
-Miss the game? Watch it again on www.byu.tv for up to two weeks after the airdate
-High School teammates and fellow freshman Matt Rider and Pedro Vasconcelos started together in the midfield
-BYU is now 0-8-3 all-time against Orange County

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Junior forward, BJ Pugmire drops some of his writing skills on the blog with his weekly look at the different aspects of the BYU soccer program.

One benefit the BYU men’s soccer team has with regard to its incoming freshman is the opportunity for its recruits to join the team right after graduation in order to give them more experience, and often times help the Cougars win matches.

Matt Kurtz graduated June 10, exactly one week ago and has participated in three official practices with the BYU team.

“The pace of the game is a lot faster than it was in club,” Kurtz said. “The players have a much better touch on the ball and I have been very impressed with the caliber of soccer since I got here.”

That is quite the complement coming from Kurtz, who grew up playing for the Las Vegas Premier. According to gotsoccer.com L.V. Premier is ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the western region. Kurtz club side won state cup in Nevada and is headed to the western regional finals, a tournament Kurtz will not be attending because of his commitment to BYU and the team. Also his mother did not think it would be a good idea.

“My mom told me she didn’t want me to miss a week of school,” Kurtz said. “We talked a lot about it and we decided that it was better to move on and come here to start school and join the team.”

Although Kurtz just graduated high school, he is one of the biggest and strongest players on the team. Kurtz is 6’2” and weighs in at 190 lbs. He used his height in high school as he played volleyball all four years along with basketball as a freshman and sophomore.

Although Kurtz played other sports growing up, he said he always knew he wanted to pursue soccer over other sports. After being recruited by colleges for soccer and volleyball, the center midfield player attended BYU camp where shortly after he committed to coach Watkins.

“One of the main reasons I wanted to come to BYU was because of the environment here,” he said. “Along with the high level of soccer, it’s also a great place to prepare to leave on a mission.”

Even though Kurtz is very excited to be here at BYU he does admit to feeling a little jealous as he watched his friends and teammates receive scholarships to play at division I schools across the country.

Players and coaches are impressed with the technical ability of Kurtz considering his size.

“He is a big strong central player,” said sophomore teammate Toni Niccoli. “He’s also very smooth with the ball and has great vision of the field.”

Kurtz is one of three freshmen that have joined the team since graduating high school this season. Junior Lartey (Mountain View HS in Orem, Utah) and Nate Stoven (Brighton HS in Sandy, UT) are the two other freshmen that have joined the team. It is often difficult for players to come right of high school and make a difference on the team, but Kurtz definitely has the potential to help our team improve.Tweet

Junior forward, BJ Pugmire drops some of his writing skills on the blog with his weekly look at the different aspects of the BYU soccer program.

One addition to the men’s soccer program this season is heart rate monitors. With the help of Britt Osborne, coach Watkins contacted a company in Sweden that sold the monitors, in order to find the best deal possible.

From my understanding, the idea came when Watkins traveled to England and attended a number of training sessions with the English Premier League side, Wolverhampton. The players and coaches at Wolverhampton utilized the monitors in order to better prepare the athletes for the rigors of a long season; as well as to help them improve conditioning and fitness.

The monitors allow players and coaches to see how often a player is reaching their maximum heart rate, and for how long. There are five zones in which players can be, zone 5 being a player’s maximum heart rate, zone four being 80% of the maximum heart rate etc. When a player is in a certain zone for over one minute he is given a certain number of points, depending on the effort put forth. If a player is in a higher zone, then he is given a higher point value. This information tells coaches and players how hard they are pushing themselves in practice, and how much more a player can give in order to improve.

One of the best aspects of the heart monitors is that they are individual. Each player can look at the computer screen after practice and see how many points they earned that day, in essence showing them what kind of effort they put forward. As for BYU, the coaching staff will generally give the players a common goal for any given day. Generally if we play on Friday then at Tuesday’s practice the coaches will set the goal of 300, which is the average point value of the team after playing a match. Fortunately they only require 11 players to have reached the point value of the day and not all 25 of us. Then as the week progresses the coaches will lower the point value in preparation for our games, ensuring they haven’t over worked the players before a match. Wednesday is usually around 225 and Thursday around 175.

In preparation for the World Cup, the US men’s national team is also using the same heart rate monitors in order to prepare. One of the benefits the national team has, is time and means to create specific work out plans for each player, becoming even more individualized in their approach.

At BYU we are extremely blessed to have and use these heart rate monitors in order to become a better team and program. Many professional teams have yet to discover the benefit these heart rate monitors can be. I am certain in the near future all teams in almost every sport will have and use these monitors to help improve their athletes.Tweet