Jarom Jordan

Scott Heaton and the Cougars look to beat Ogden on Saturday. (BYU Photo)

PROVO, Utah (May 25, 2011) — After Tuesday’s scoreless draw in Provo, the BYU Cougars and Ogden Outlaws will meet again this Saturday at Bonneville High School at 6 p.m. in the second of four meetings this season. Both teams are 0-2-2 in PDL play while BYU is 5-2-2 overall.

BYU leads the series 15-2-2 and won five in a row before Tuesday’s scoreless tie. BYU has outscored Ogden 9-2 in the last six meetings. The Cougars have never lost in Ogden, going 8-0-1 and have outscored Ogden, 13-3. The two teams are tied for fifth place with two points each in the Southwest Division of the PDL.

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

It was a very difficult loss on Friday night, and I know the team is anxious to move forward and play again tomorrow against Ogden. It’s important to quickly learn from mistakes and move on to the next game, especially early in the season. As a staff, we constantly remind our players to be confident, even if they miss an opportunity to score or tackle a ball, forget about the past and move on to the next opportunity.

At Monday morning’s practice, the team spent time watching film, then working on a few changes for tomorrow night and it was clear how motivated the players were to prove themselves and get a win tomorrow. Go Cougs!Tweet

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Video: BYU Coach – Chris Watkins Postgame

PROVO, Utah (May 20, 2011) — In BYU’s Premier Development League home opener, the Cougars lost 3-0 to the Fresno Fuego Friday night. BYU is now 5-2-1 on the year and 0-2-1 in the PDL.

“I’m obviously very disappointed,” said head coach, Chris Watkins. “It’s always going to be tough. We need to play with more energy and more belief in ourselves.”

The undefeated Fresno side started the game with a bang, scoring in the first 10 seconds off the kickoff. Jose Cuevas launched a ball at BYU’s backline that took a perfect bounce to the path of striker, Gustavo Silva who evaded one defender who slipped on the wet grass and beat another one to put his first goal of the season in the back of the net.

The Cougars had solid possession in the midfield for the next 25 minutes until a foul created a set piece opportunity outside BYU’s box in the 27th minute for the Fuego. Gastavo Cignetti blasted a strike into the upper left part of the net, beyond the diving reach of Cougar goalkeeper, Cory Cosgrave off the free kick to go ahead 2-0.

BYU rebounded with great pace and momentum resulting in its best offensive chance of the half when Scott Heaton made a great cross to BJ Pugmire who missed an open net when he hit the post a minute before the halftime whistle.

Two minutes into the second half, Fresno sub, Tyler Reinhart scored his second goal of the season as he received a pass in the air from Gastavo Cignetti, then controlled it, cut back and ripped a third goal through the net for the Fuego.

BYU exhausted its six subs for fresh legs and had great looks at times but were shutout at home for the first time in five games. The Cougars connected 352 passes in the game. BYU is now 4-3-2 in PDL home openers alltime.

“We played a lot better the (on May 12 versus Fresno),” said Watkins. “We need to believe in ourselves. We have to know that we can go toe to toe with teams otherwise it’s going to be a long season.”

Fresno won both meetings this season, 2-0 on May 12 and 3-0 on May 20. The Cougars now prepare for the Ogden Outlaws on Tuesday, May 24. The game will be live on BYUtv.Tweet

PROVO, Utah (May 19, 2011) — BYU sophomore defender, Junior Lartey (pronounced LA-tay) was honorably mentioned on the USL Premier Development League Team of the Week today for the week of May 8-14.

He started both games last week as the Cougars opened the PDL season on the road against the Fresno Fuego on May 12 and the Orange County Blue Star on May 14.

Lartey and the Cougars lost to Fresno 2-0 and held the Blue Star to a 1-1 draw after Orange County had scored nine goals in its first two games. He has logged 162 minutes in two games and has recorded a shot, four fouls, and a yellow card.

Here’s a link to the full PDL release.Tweet

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

This week the team will be extremely anxious to play the Fresno Fuego on Friday night, just one week after we lost 2-0 in Fresno. For 70 minutes both teams competed at an unbelievably high level, but in the end Fresno broke down our defense first and I’m sure the guys are excited to get a second chance this weekend.

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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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Blake Tillotson and several members of the team will be at Franklin Elementary School (50 South 600 West in Provo) this Saturday from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. for a soccer clinic.  They’ll give away mini-soccer balls and tickets to the U-21 Mexican National Team game.  They expect 50 or more kids, ages 8-18 to attend.

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BJ Pugmire will be featured on “Nexos”, a television program on BYU TV International (Spanish) on June 26th at 3 p.m.  If you don’t get the channel, go to their website to watch online for free, live or on demand up to two weeks after the show.  The interview was all in Spanish and is a preview of the season for the team.Tweet

Jarom Jordan
jarom.jordan@byu.edu
801-471-4469

PROVO, Utah (April 26, 2010) — The BYU men’s soccer team will host the U-21 Mexican National Team, Wednesday May 12 in Provo.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Stadium at South Field in Provo, Utah.  The game will be broadcast live, worldwide on BYU Television.  It will also be streamed online, for free at www.byu.tv.  Tickets are $10 for reserved seating and $6 for general admission.   Those can be purchased at Rancho Markets, Utah Community Credit Union, or www.byutickets.com.  BYU expects a sellout.

“It will be a huge event,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins.  “Obviously it will be a great game for us.  There’s no question about their abilities and talents.  They are all full professional players and have been for several years and are the very best of what Mexico has to offer.  It’s a great challenge, opportunity, and platform for our team to play on.  Hopefully we bring out some of the local Latino population that want to come out and watch them play.  Hopefully we will represent ourselves well and have a good night.”

The Mexican under-21 team is second only to the senior national men’s team, which will compete in this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.  This is the first time a Mexican national team has played against the BYU men’s team.  It is the first international friendly for the Cougars since defeating the Fijian national team, 3-1 in 2007.

Other national teams to visit Provo are the USA (2005) and El Salvador (2009) senior men’s national teams who used BYU’s facilities to practice for games in Salt Lake City.

PDL SEASON APPROACHES
BYU’s Premier Development League season is almost underway. The Cougars will practice Thursday and Friday of this week, scrimmage Weber State on Saturday at Haws Field and begin afternoon practices next week.  BYU opens on the road at the Orange County Blue Star, May 8.  The first home game is May 21 versus the Los Angeles Legends.

2010 SPRING SEASON REVIEW
BYU is 2-1-1 in spring pre-season play. The Cougars defeated the Mesa State Mavericks twice on March 20 in Grand Junction, Colorado in the team’s first pre-season games. The Cougars won the first game 3-0 on goals from BJ Pugmire (‘13), Zach DeFrancis (‘16), and Brady Marshall (‘56). In the second game the Cougars won 2-1. March 27 BYU tied the UNLV Rebels 0-0 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  April 7, MLS Cup Champion, Real Salt Lake won 6-0 in a scrimmage in Lehi.  In the fall, BYU went 1-1-1, defeating Utah State (2-0), tying Weber State (1-1), and losing to Real Salt Lake (4-1).

PREVIEWING THE COUGARS
Eight starters return this season, including goal keeper, Bryan Black, veteran defenders, KC Whitworth and Drew VanWagenen, midfielders Brent Jensen and Britt Osborne, as well as forwards Zach De Francis, Brady Marshall, and BJ Pugmire. The Cougars lost seven players to graduation, including All-PDL western conference honorable mention midfielder, Richie Bindrup.  BYU welcomes back five returned missionaries and seven freshman will join the team out of high school in June after their graduations.

2009 REVIEW
BYU finished 7-5-4 overall, in fourth position in the southwest division and just one spot out of the playoffs. Despite some major injuries the Cougars defeated Southwest Division champion, Hollywood Hitmen, 1-0 and tied eventual PDL champ, Ventura County 2-2.

PREMIER DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
After winning seven club national championships, Brigham Young University 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.

FOLLOW THE COUGARS ONLINE
Check out the Cougars on twitter at www.twitter.com/byusoccer or on the official website at www.byusoccer.com.

QUICK FACTS
Who: BYU Cougars vs. U-21 Mexican National Team
When: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 7 p.m. MT
Where: The Stadium at South Field in Provo, Utah
Tickets:  $10 reserved, $6 general admission
TV: BYUtv or www.byu.tv

BYU will host the U-21 Mexican National Team on May 12 at 7 p.m.

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The Cougars continue to play spring pre-season exhibitions in preparation for the 2010 Premier Development League season. So far the Cougars are 2-0-1 with two wins at Mesa State (March 20) and a 0-0 tie at UNLV (March 27). Friday, April 9 BYU will host Dixie at the Stadium at South Field.

Come check out the Cougars almost a month to the day before the start of the 2010 PDL season (May 8 @ Orange County).

BJ Pugmire tweaked his knee at UNLV last Saturday but practiced strong yesterday so it sounds like he’s OK. BJ was highly recruited out of high school, had an outstanding two season in 2004 and 2005 with the team before serving a mission to Mexico. He’s been hampered by two ACL tears (one in each knee) and will be a key contributor up front, especially if BYU plays a 4-3-3 like they are experimenting with right now.

Mr. Pugmire also writes for the Daily Universe (BYU’s school newspaper). You can read a couple of his recent articles at these links.  Ironically he covers several of the extramural sports at BYU, one of which is men’s soccer but he’s in season with rugby and lacrosse.

Rugby suffers hard loss to in-state rival Utah (3/25)

Lacrosse team takes Trek to Canada (3/18)

BYU Rugby to Play Colorado (3/11)

The photo below is of BJ last summer performing tricks in Nicaragua to children in the streets. (Photo by Drew Van Wagenen)

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Jarom Jordan
Media Relations Director
jarom.jordan@byu.edu

PROVO, Utah (April 2, 2010) — BYUtv announced it will broadcast seven of the eight home games during the 2010 BYU men’s soccer season. The only home game not televised will be July 3 versus the Ogden Outlaws.

“We are excited,” said head coach, Chris Watkins. “Especially for our fans out of state to be able to follow our team so closely.”

BYU men’s soccer is the first and only team in the Premier Development League to broadcast it’s own games to a live, national television audience. BYUtv is syndicated on cable and satellite TV networks into over 48 million homes on DirecTV, Dish Network, and many cable providers. Click here to find out how to watch the channel in your area. BYUtv can also be viewed online, live, and for free at www.byu.tv.

Home / TV Schedule:

Friday May 21 vs Los Angeles Legends 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

Saturday May 22 vs Lancaster Rattlers 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

Friday June 18 vs Southern California Seahorses 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

Saturday June 19 vs Orange County Blue Star 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

Saturday July 3 vs Ogden Outlaws 7 p.m. (Not on TV)

Thursday July 8 vs Hollywood United Hitmen 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

Saturday July 10 vs Ventura County Fusion 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

Friday July 16 vs Fresno Fuego 8 p.m. (BYUtv)

BYUtv will broadcast all but one home game in 2010.