#TOURdeFutSLC: One year after championship match run, BYU women's soccer deserves respect
#TOURdeFutSLC: One year after championship match run, BYU women's soccer deserves respect
The Cougars crashed through the program's ceiling a year ago, but can they maintain their success a year before joining the Big 12?
Good morning, and thank you for starting your day with Own Goals, the official newsletter of the Salt City FC podcast. Normally in this space, we like to highlight soccer across the state of Utah, and that means more than Real Salt Lake (no offense, guys).
There are a lot of great soccer programs and traditions spread out across the state, and to limit our coverage to one level seems unfair. So for a moment, let’s turn out attention back to college soccer, and to a program that helped put the state on the map in the Beautiful Game: BYU women’s soccer.
What now?
Last year’s run was nothing short of historic for the Cougars — and a little heartbreaking, in the end.
BYU set an all-time mark in program history with a 17-5-2 record, a run that included an 8-1 finish in West Coast Conference play, a share of the WCC championship for the eighth time in 11 years, the program’s first-ever run to the NCAA College Cup and national championship match, and the introduction of two plays to the National Women’s Soccer League: Cameron Tucker (Gotham FC) and Mikayla Colohan Cluff (Orlando City).
But there was also one more notch to climb, and that ultimately left a hard feeling for most of the returning players in the offseason: a loss via penalty shootout to Florida State in the College Cup final, a round of scoreless regulation made salty by the overturning of a goal for a controversial offside call and a 4-3 loss on penalty kicks.
So what can head coach Jennifer Rockwood’s team do for an encore, in their final season competing in the West Coast Conference before joining the Big 12 in 2023? Well, there’s only one place to go upwards.
How realistic is that without Colohan and Tucker?
“We return a lot of experience,” Rockwood told Salt City FC. “Obviously, we lose a large percentage of our attack and goal-scoring ability. But the reality is we do return seven full-time starters, plus players like Bella Folino and Rachel McCarthy, who didn’t always consistently start for us but played starting minutes off the bench.
“I think the challenge for us and our players will be feeling the pressure of returning after a season like that. I think we have, especially with our incoming freshman from winter and playing with us (in the spring), I think we felt that we were training at a similar level — even without our seniors. It was a surprise for us, but a very exciting surprise.”
Given a sign of respect with the No. 3 preseason ranking by the United Soccer Coaches, the style doesn’t change. The system doesn’t change. Most importantly, the head coach since the program was founded in the NCAA 27 years ago doesn’t change — nor does Rockwood’s staff in Brent Anderson, Steve Magleby, Rachel Jorgensen and Madie Gates — the NCAA Women’s Soccer Staff of the Year, along with athletic trainer Caroline Billings — while also adding former BYU soccer star Bizzy Phillips Bowen.
“We’re as deeper or deeper than we were last year, I believe,” Rockwood said. “But I think the big struggle will be our returning players being able to manage the pressure and expectation that will be on them.
“They’ll want so badly to get back to where they were, and they know that’s a lot. The expectations are high. I think we feel like we’re capable of having another breakout season.”
The Cougars’ roster is made up almost entirely of players from Utah — all but three are from the Beehive State, and Ladera Ranch, California native Ruby Hladek spent her senior year at American Fork High School due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s a key reason why all eight incoming freshman were able to graduate early and enroll at BYU before the shortened spring season, and it was much needed. The Cougars only lost three seniors, but will also deal with replacing seven missionaries currently serving for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world — perhaps most notably, Haven Empey among three actively serving goalkeepers, leaving just two active goalkeepers on the roster in sophomore Savanna (Empey) Mason and freshman Taygan Sill.
Key Returners
Natalee Wells, DF, Alpine (Utah transfer): Projected starting center back and a team captain once she recovers from a foot injury (Izzi Stratton will play there in the mean time), Wells played in 15 games last year for the Cougars with eight starts and three shots on goal. She also played in every game in 2016 and 2017 at Utah, where she totaled eight assists before transferring to BYU following a church mission to Mongolia.
Jamie Shepherd, MF, American Fork: An All-WCC first-team selection and NCAA All-West Region honoree a year ago, Shepherd started all 24 matches and played the most minutes by any athlete on the team with 2,091. The junior tallied just one goal, but added three assists and got into the attack with 36 shots. A team captain, Shepherd was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy preseason watch list, given to most outstanding player in collegiate soccer each year.
Laveni Vaka, DF, Sandy: Another Hermann Trophy watch list candidate, Vaka started all 24 games as a sophomore in 2021, breaking out in central defense and tallying two assists with seven shots. A Tongan international who played with her twin sister Daviana (a rising sophomore outside back for the Cougars) in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup over the summer, Vaka was named to the NCAA All-West Region first team a year ago.
Bella Folino, F, Aliso Viejo, Calif.: One of the rare non-Utahns on the roster, Folino will try to fill the scoring boots of Tucker as she transitions to full-time striker. The junior played in all 24 games in 2021, starting 14 in various positions, with nine goals and one assist in 42 shots. The All-WCC second-team selection has 60 games of experience, totaling 3,193 minutes with 23 goals and six assists across four seasons (including the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 season).
Key Additions
Izzi Stratton, DF/MF, Alpine: A former three-sport athlete in high school who also played volleyball and basketball, Stratton — who started the year filling in for Wells at center back, but could also play the No. 6 — was TopDrawerSoccer’s No. 12-rated defender and No. 57 recruit overall in the Class of 2021 and a Preseason Best XI Freshman Team honoree by the service.
Allie Fryer, MF/F, Spanish Fork: A two-time first-team all-state player, Fryer started the spring at the No. 10 role — she scored 102 career goals at Maple Mountain — but will likely transition to back up attacking midfielder Jamie Shepherd, who had both goals in the Cougars’ win last week at Ohio State.
Ruby Hladek, F, Ladera Ranch, Calif.: A former four-star recruit by TopDrawerSoccer, Hladek won the 2021 ECNL national championship before enrolling at BYU and redshirting during last season. But the 6A first-team all-state forward in her lone season at American Fork will be counted on to bring a goal-scorer’s punch off the bench in her first full season of eligibility.
Next Up
After opening the season with road wins over Cal State Fullerton and Ohio State, the ninth-ranked Cougars (2-0) will play their first game at South Field against No. 25 Colorado at 3 p.m. MDT in Provo. The match will be broadcast on BYUtv and BYU Radio.
That’s the first of a four-match home stand, including Thursday against Alabama (7 p.m. MT, BYUtv).
BYU holds an all-time record of 4-3-1 against the Buffs, including a 3-0 loss in the last meeting, Sept. 4, 2017 at Prentup Field.
