The BYU men's soccer team kicks off its 2005 home season this weekend with two games at BYU's South Stadium against Bakersfield and Orange County. The Cougars will be looking to improve on last year's 8-9-1 record in the Southwest Division of the Premier Development League.
The Cougars look to be in good shape as head coach Chris Watkins is returning his top three scorers and his entire back line from last year's team.
"Last year we were able to sneak up on people quite a bit," said Watkins. "We won a few games that maybe we shouldn't have won. Now people respect us more, so we'll see."
BYU returns Matt Affleck and Chris Lamb at forward, who led the team with 24 and 21 points, respectively. Gilbert Gaertner is also back. Gaertner scored three goals and had six assists from his midfield position last year.
In addition, the Cougars added some exceptional players during the summer portion of last season as well as during this offseason. Midfielder Brock Trejo, who played a year at North Carolina State before serving an LDS mission to Tampa, Fla., is expected to play a major role on this year's team, according to Watkins.
Hugh Van Wagenen, a Cottonwood High School star, should continue to provide help on the defensive side of the field.
"Van Wagenen transferred from George Mason and has come in and done a nice job for us in the back," said Watkins.
Another young player expected to play a large roll at midfield is B.J. Pugmire.
"He's a phenomenal prospect as a young player," said Watkins. "He has incredible speed and quickness.
"We're really heavy on quality forwards right now," said Watkins. "We're playing with three up front and three in the middle, which is kind of a different formation for us. So hopefully we can score a few more goals this year and be more of an offensive attacking team as opposed to the last couple of years when we were playing defense most of the time."
The Cougars are beginning their third year in the PDL. The adjustment hasn't been an easy one. In 2003, the Cougars made the jump from a club team in the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association to the PDL and struggled. BYU won its first game but ended up 2-15-1 for the season. Last year, the win total grew to eight games, including five wins at home.
"Our players who are left over from those club days have become much better players than they ever would have become otherwise," said Watkins. "We're doing exactly what we wanted to do. We'd like to win a few more games, but we feel good that we have to earn them. Before it had gotten to the point in our program where we could win a national championship, and people didn't even run out onto the field afterwards."
National championships had become common for the Cougars, who had won seven in nine years, including five straight from 1995 to 1999. During that string of championships, the Cougars won an amazing 30 straight games at the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Club National Championship.
"We do have more talent this year than we did last year," said Watkins. "As people watch us they're going to recognize that we can flat out play. For a college team, we are excellent. We've made a lot of progress from a club team to now."
Already, BYU is 1-1 on the 2005 season. The Cougars began the year on the road with a win over the San Diego Gouchos, 4-0, and then lost to the Southern California Seahorses, 1-2. Prior to the official start of the season, the Cougars played an exhibition game against the Real Salt Lake Reserves in a driving rain storm. The teams played even at 1-1 until the 81st minute when Real scored to go ahead 2-1 and then scored again two minutes later to capture a 3-1 victory over the Cougars.
BYU is building on its great soccer tradition and looks to continue moving up the PDL standings.
BYU 2005 men's soccer schedule
Date Time Opponent Location
May 13 7:30 p.m. BYU 4, San Diego 0 U. of San Diego
May 14 7:30 p.m. So. Cal 2, BYU 1 La Mirada H.S.
May 20 7:30 p.m. vs. Bakersfield Brigade South Stadium
May 21 7:30 p.m. vs. Orange County Blue Star South Stadium
June 3 7:30 p.m. vs. Nevada Wonders South Stadium
June 6 5 p.m. vs. Southern California South Stadium
June 10 7:30 p.m. at Orange County Blue Star UC-Irvine
June 11 7:30 p.m. at Bakersfield Brigade Kern County
June 17 6 p.m. at Boulder Rapids Reserve Pleasant View Field
June 18 6:30 p.m. at Colorado Springs Blizzard Sand Creek Park
June 24 7:30 p.m. at Fresno Fuego Fresno Pacific U.
June 25 7 p.m. at California Gold P. Johansen Stad.
July 1 7:30 p.m. vs. Colorado Springs Blizzard South Stadium
July 2 7:30 p.m. vs. Colorado Springs Blizzard South Stadium
July 7 7:30 p.m. vs. Boulder Rapids Reserve South Stadium
July 8 7:30 p.m. vs. Boulder Rapids Reserve South Stadium
July 9 7:30 p.m. vs. California Gold South Stadium
July 15 7:30 p.m. vs. San Diego Gauchos South Stadium