Happy finals week BYU students, it’s always darkest before grades are posted.

It looks like it’s been a long time since we’ve had a blog post out for your reading enjoyment, so I’ll give a little update for the last week or two.

We are loaded with injuries lately, with Sterling Hancock, David Gates, John Junca, Jantzen Romney, Garrett Losee, and of course Toni Niccoli, unable to practice (am I missing anyone?). Luckily, we have the expertise of Deniece Oates and our new student trainer, so we ought to have a full team by the middle of the season.

Last Saturday, the team took a trip to Camp Williams Army Garrison to do the “Leadership Reaction Course” and some rappelling. I’ll be brief on this because I know “a picture is worth a thousand words” and we have some good pictures on our Facebook page ‘BYU Men’s Soccer.’

Last night was the “Blue and White” game, which was subsidized by some of our excellent former players including, Matt Kimball, Kyle Petit, Lance Smith, McKay Corbett, Cory Cosgrave, Blake Tillotson(who scored), and of course Garrett Gee, who repeatedly made me look like a fool with his lightning quickness. White won the game 5-1.

Well, the team is off for finals week and we’ll be practicing again on Friday. As it is finals week, we ask you all to keep the eligibility of Garrett Losee and Bryson Pope in your prayers. You can do it guys, I know you can.Tweet

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

Jarom Jordan

Today’s practice featured a couple of new faces on the team. Former Springville Red Devil and high school teammate of BYU goalkeeper, Easton Folster, Bryson Pope is back from a mission and practiced with the team. I think he and Jace Green are the two tallest guys on the team.

High school graduates Winston Sorhaitz (Pleasant Grove) and Josh Hunter (Ohio)  graduated from high school and are practicing with the team. It was Sorhaitz third practice and Hunter’s first.

Today two year starting keeper, Bryan Black practiced with the team as the third keeper (he graduated in April and isn’t on the team). The fourth was Brackin Flitton who was a guest keeper. He was the starting goalie at Davis last season when the Darts won the state title. He gave up a mere three goals in 20 games that season. He is headed for Dallas on his LDS mission on June 29.

From what I gathered practice was VERY competitive. I saw fire in a lot of guys. These guys aren’t happy about scoring two goals in five games so far. Six goals allowed in five games (three in one game) is pretty good. The coaching staff focused practice on goal scoring and attacking the goal today. Sorhaitz looked impressive. Very quick.

The BYU soccer camps began this week, meaning 13 players are working them and the six hours every day from Monday-Thursday plus practicing. Get some rest fellas! This week it’s cubs and mini cubs.

BYU is prepping for a Friday/Saturday set of games against Orange County (May 14 1-1 tie on the road) and the first meeting with the Southern California Seahorses this year.

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BYU Assistant Coach, Clay Christenson gives his thoughts about the team “From the Box”.

After a week of well-deserved rest, it’s back to work in preparation for the biggest weekend of the season. With two games and six points on the line, the team will need to be focused on doing whatever it takes to get those points. Even players that don’t get many minutes play a vital role in the team’s preparation. A constant theme during training sessions is ‘to compete.’ We want every player competing for every ball in every situation, no exception.

Every player is anxious to prove themselves, right now there are even a few starting positions that are up for grabs so this week should be highly competitive as we prepare for Friday night. Go Cougs!Tweet

FRESNO, California (May 12, 2011) – The BYU men’s soccer team dropped its season opener on the road at Chukchansi Park Thursday night against the Fresno Fuego, 2-0.  It is the first season opening loss for the Cougars since 2004 and just the second season opening loss ever.

“I thought we played very well for the majority of the game,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “We had some great chances. Fresno is a great team. We really looked sharp. For much of the game we felt like we had the advantage. Once they scored that first goal we lost the momentum. We gave up the ball right in front of our own goal. It took out our heart. “

BYU (0-1-0) created several quality scoring opportunities but were shutout. Junior midfielder Doug Clark had a shot from distance in the first half that was saved by the finger tips of Fuego goalkeeper, Gilbert Vega. BYU also missed a chance after a great buildup from a Cory Cosgrave goal kick resulting in sophomore forward, Garrett Losee beating the keeper on a header but a defender cleared the ball on the endline.

After a scoreless shutout at halftime, Fresno (1-2-0) got on the board in the 65th minute when Jose Cuevas (1) scored the first goal in three games for Fresno. In the 80th minute the Fuego put the game away with a strike from Andrew Campbell (1).

“I thought we played pretty well for about 60 minutes,” said senior midfielder, BJ Pugmire. “In the first half it was a very even game. We possessed it well. In the second half we played balls a little longer, looking for a goal and weren’t patient in the buildup. We’ve found some places to improve where we can excel.”

The Cougars completed 168 passes on the night and BJ Pugmire, Garrett Losee, and Ethan Meyer received yellow cards. Fresno now leads the series history, 6-3 with a nine goal differential. They’ve won the last four meetings dating back to 2007.

BYU will travel south to Irvine, California to play the Orange County Blue Star on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Concordia University. The Blue Star lead the PDL with nine goals in two games, both wins to lead the Southwest Division with six points. The Cougars look to beat the Blue Star for the first time in program history (0-8-3 all-time).

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

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

We’ve been waiting for this week since August.  After nearly nine months of preparation, this team is ready to reclaim its spot among the PDL’s best.  The memories of last season’s disappointments are forgotten, and the opportunity to claim six points this weekend is the thought on all our minds.

If this isn’t the most talented BYU in recent years, then certainly it’s the most unified.  Since February, Coach Watkins has encouraged “team unity” while placing a particular emphasize on positive feedback, personal accountability, and accepting responsibility for our teammates.  Furthermore, cultivating a kind of brotherly bond has helped our team to succeed in achieving our preferred style of play—keeping possession of the ball.

For the past several weeks, Coach Watkins has a new phrase on his lips: “Create a rhythm!” In fact, almost every other sentence he says, I think, is, “create a rhythm.”  This has become a kind of buzz-phrase in our recent training sessions (Toni Niccoli seems to like it as much as Coach!). What Coach means, of course, is that he wants us to move the ball quickly from player to player, creating a long series of completed passes.  Doing this requires a great deal of off-the-ball movement and precisely timed runs (both of which have also been frequent topics of our practices so far this year).  This style of play not only creates goal-scoring opportunities, but is also enjoyable to watch—and we like pleasing our fans!

Today our practice was focused on scoring goals (which hasn’t been much of a problem for this team so far).  We spend a lot of time playing small-sided games and taking shot and after shot.  BJ Pugmire might have been the leading scorer for the day, but yours truly scored the day’s final three goals which allowed the Green Team to finish as champions!  Sorry, BJ.  Also, today we were joined by former BYU wide receiver Todd Watkins.  And in case you were wondering, Todd, who had two goals of his own, is a much better wide-receiver-turned-soccer-player than Chad Ochocinco.

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BYU Assistant Coach, Clay Christenson gives his thoughts about the team “From the Box”.

It’s been a great preseason. Not only have the players worked extremely hard, but they’ve had good match results. Of course not much of that matters when they hit the field Thursday night against the Fresno Fuego, but everyone is excited to prove themselves this year in the Premier Development League. The team has been working on fitness and training since January, so the season is definitely a nice welcome for the guys.

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Provo, Utah (Feb. 26, 2011) — After a three day trial with 107 participants, Chris Watkins and the BYU coaching staff have a roster of 22 players for the upcoming summer Premier Development League season.

“It was a really good group, really deep,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins.  “We settled on 22 we are very happy with.  I’m excited to get to work with them.”

The roster includes nine returners from last year’s PDL roster, eight returned missionaries, two freshman who joined the team in the fall and three players who made the fall team and made Saturday’s final cut.

BYU’s five incoming freshman who are currently in high school will join the 22 when they graduate in June.  Two more returned missionaries, Jace Green and Mckay Corbett, will also join the team in April and May.

“It’s a very good class (of returned missionaries),” said Watkins.  “It’s a good group coming back.”

BYU’s spring exhibition schedule features a trip to UNLV at the end of March and a week in Puerto Rico in April.

“We’re young, there’s no doubt about that,” added Watkins.  “I’m excited.  We had a good fall with the core of this group who did a really good job of playing quickly, smart, and as a team.”

2011 PDL Roster
Connor Bassett
Colby Bauer
James Bindrup
Will Burton
Tyler Christiansen
Doug Clark
Cory Cosgrave
Easton Folster
Garrett Gee
Sterling Hancock
Scott Heaton
Jonathan Junca
Matt Kimball
Junior Lartey
Garrett Losee
Ethan Meyer
Mike Moreno
Toni Niccoli
BJ Pugmire
Jantzen Romney
Lance Smith
Derek Taylor

Incoming Freshman
Dallin Cutler
Josh Hunter
Trevor Lesueur
Jerry Dearden
Winstron Sorthaitz

Watch an interview with Chris Watkins and two videos from the photo shoot, Saturday night in the Indoor Practice Facility on campus.

Follow the Cougars on:
Official Website-www.byusoccer.com
Twitter-www.twitter.com/byusoccer
YouTube-www.youtube.com/byumensoccerTweet

TAMPA, Florida (Feb. 18, 2011) — The Premier Development League announced its 2011 schedule, including 16 games for the BYU Cougars. All 16 games are against southwest division opponents.

“We’re excited to have finalized our schedule,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins.  “The same great PDL teams will really challenge us again this summer.”

The schedule is highlighted with home and away matchups against the 2010 division champion, Ventura County Fusion, as well as two home and two road games with the Ogden Outlaws.

BYU begins the season with a two-game road trip in three days at Fresno and Orange County on May 12 and 14.  The home opener is Friday, May 20 against Fresno followed by a rare Tuesday game against Ogden.  The May schedule is rounded out by a trip to Ogden the same week on May 28.

In June the Cougars play six games, beginning with Orange County and Southern California on back-to-back nights on June 10 and 11, both at home.  The next weekend the Cougars travel to play Hollywood and Southern California on June 17 and 18 then return to Provo to face Ventura County and Los Angeles  at the Stadium at South Field on June 23 and 25.

July 2 the Cougars play the Ogden Outlaws a second time at home, during 4th of July weekend, then travel to face Ventura County and Los Angeles on July 8 and 9.  BYU plays its last road game on July 16 at Ogden then the home and regular season finale is July 21 against Hollywood.

As the top U23 men’s league in North America, the PDL provides elite collegiate players the opportunity to taste a higher level of competition while maintaining their eligibility. 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 throughout the world.
The PDL features 64 teams in four geographic conferences and nine divisions.  The Eastern Conference features three divisions while the Southern, Central and Western Conferences feature two divisions each.  PDL clubs will play 16-game schedules in 2011, eight home and eight away.

Nine new teams joined the PDL for 2011, including the Akron Metro FC Summit Assault, Fredericksburg Hotspur, Hamilton FC Rage, FC Jax Destroyers, North Sound SeaWolves, RGV Grandes, River City Rovers and WSA Winnipeg.  Also new to the PDL for 2011 are the Real Maryland Monarchs, who spent their three previous seasons in the USL Second Division.

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Here’s a sidenote story about former Cougar, Steve Magleby who recently had sports hernia surgery.  His path to a successful surgery sent him through Andy Reid, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.  Check this out…

Steve wrote an email to BYU athletic trainer, Deniece Oates asking her opinion of the symptoms he had and what a doctor in Denmark (where Steve is playing professionally) had told him.  Deniece told him she thought it sounded like a sports hernia and sent him a link to some info about it.  She got some info for him about a doctor in Germany who specializes in sports hernias, and has developed a surgery for it.

She also told him about the few specialists there are in the US, including one in Philadelphia that also does the surgery. The one in Philadelphia is the one BYU sends its football players to.  She told him it was important to go to a specialist for the sports hernia surgery, as few are experienced at it, and BYU has had problems with someone close by who has not been doing the surgery BYU thought he was doing. She also told him the problems BYU has found with trying to avoid surgery.  Players have always come back to needing the surgery.

As Steve was going to Maryland for Christmas, he got an MRI through his father-in-law.  His Dad called BYU athletic director, Tom Holmoe about the Philadelphia surgeon.  Tom Holmoe called Eagles head coach, Andy Reid in Philadelphia, and Reid called the surgeon and Steve had surgery a few days later.Tweet