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

Jarom Jordan

Click here for complete PDF game notes.

PROVO, Utah (June 17, 2010) — BYU returns to the Stadium at South Field this weekend for the first time since May 22.  The Cougars are 1-4-2 and look to pick up some points at home against Southern California (3-4-0) on Friday and division leading, Orange County (6-0-3) on Saturday.  Saturday’s game will be broadcast nationally on BYU Television and online for free at www.byu.tv.

BYU hosts Southern California and Orange County this weekend. (BYU Photo)

“Southern California is a pretty good team,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins.  ”We scored early and really settled down (in the first game).  We’re in for a challenge.  Orange County seems to be able to score at will lately.  They’ll create a lot of problems for our defense.  Hopefully we’ll get a result.  We have them on the second night of a back-to-back.  We like our chances against anyone in that situation.”

Friday marks the end of the first half and Saturday the beginning of the the second half of the PDL season, with BYU in eighth place with five points.  Two of BYU’s three games with points came against this weekend’s opponents.  May 29 the Cougars garnered a 2-0 victory against Southern California and May 8 BYU tied Orange County 2-2.  The Cougars are looking for their first home victory of the season after dropping games to L.A. and Lancaster on May 21 and 22.

“It’s been a pretty frustrating start,” said sophomore defender, James Bindrup.  ”I think it will only go up from here.  We have a good team.  We should be winning a lot more than we have been.”

PREVIEWING THE OPPONENT-SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
BYU is looking to sweep the season series against Southern California for the first time after a 2-0 win on May 29.  The Seahorses are in fifth place in the Southwest division with nine points in seven games. SoCal started the season with 1-0 victories against Hollywood and Los Angeles before losing two in a row to Ventura County, then losing to Orange County, BYU, and defeating Lancaster.  Jacob Ravenscraft leads the Seahorses with two of the teams five goals this season.  BYU is 3-5-1 all-time against Southern California and have a three-game unbeaten streak on the line in the series (W,T,W).

PREVIEWING THE OPPONENT-ORANGE COUNTY
BYU seeks its first win against the undefeated Blue Star.  The Cougars are 0-7-3 all-time against them, having tied 2-2 in three of the last four meetings.  The Cougars pulled out a 2-2 tie despite giving up two goals in the first eight minutes on May 8.  O.C. striker, Amani Walker leads the PDL with 10 goals and 23 points this season.  Defender James Turner is tied for second in the league with four assists.   The Blue Star have scored at least three goals in the last five games.  They netted 7 goals against Fresno on May 14 and 6 against Lancaster on June 9. Orange County plays Ogden Friday before coming south to Provo for Saturday’s game.

LAST GAME: BYU TIES WITH THE PDL CHAMPS ON THE ROAD (JUNE 5)
After losing 3-0 to Hollywood on Thursday, June 3 BYU bounced back with a point on the road against the 2009 PDL Champion, Ventura County Fusion on Saturday, June 5.  ”We played really well,” said BYU head coach, Chris Watkins. “It’s been a season where we’ve been working hard. Tonight was no different. Things came together pretty well for us. To come so close on the road is a little heart breaking but I’m proud of our performance tonight.”

PREMIER DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
After winning seven club national championships from 1993-2001, Brigham Young University joined the Premier Development League 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.

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: Southern California Seahorses vs. BYU Cougars
When: Friday, June 18 at 8 p.m. MT
Where: The Stadium at South Field in Provo, UT

Who: Orange County Blue Star vs. BYU Cougars
When: Saturday, June 19 at 8 p.m. MT
Where: The Stadium at South Field in Provo, UTBroadcast: Live on BYUtv and www.byu.tv (Jarom Jordan, Hugh Van Wagenen, Aaron Nilsson)Tweet

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

It took us only 7 minutes to dig a hole that would ultimately take 83 minutes to dig out on Saturday night (against Orange County) but we did it.  The guys showed a lot of fight and we’re excited to build on that this week.  What an amazing opportunity the guys have to play against some of the best players in the world on Wednesday night.   Many of the players we’ll go head to head against, will be vying for Mexico’s world cup team in 2014.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  These are the games you remember for the rest of your life.  I know the guys are very excited about it.

Assistant Coach, Clay Christenson shares his thoughts on Monday's on the blog.