PROVO — The BYU men's soccer team continues to test unchartered waters in its fourth season competing not on a collegiate level but in the professional Premier Development League.
Friday night at South Field, the Cougars — making their first-ever appearance in the PDL playoffs — posted a 2-1 home victory over Southern California in the Western Conference semifinals, advancing to tonight's 7:30 p.m. conference finals against the Orange County Blue Star.
The second-place finisher in the PDL's Northwest Division, BYU (10-6-1) upset the Southwest Divison champion Seahorses (13-4-0) on Jacob Cavanaugh's second-half breakaway goal, snapping a 1-all tie and propelling BYU into the finals, which also will be played on the Cougars' home field.
They will face the Blue Star (11-4-2) , which allowed Northwest Division champion Abbotsford (9-5-3) a 2-0 lead through 60 minutes of Friday's first semifinal match before scoring three straight goals in the final 30 minutes for the victory.
The win means BYU has reached the PDL's "elite eight," and a victory tonight would give the Cougars the Western Conference crown and chances to square off in the national semifinals — possibly in Des Moines, Iowa, against another conference champ.
Pretty heady stuff — if Cougars can even make it. First, they have to beat Orange County. Then, they'd have to see if they could host the next round or head off on the road on an already depleted travel budget.
"I don't know how we'd get there," said BYU head coach Chris Watkins. "We don't have any money - we may have to take Greyhound."
Meanwhile, Watkins and his Cougars will savor what the coach called "certainly the biggest win we've ever had as a PDL team."
He and some of the older players can remember the Cougars' 2-15 inaugural foray into PDL competition after dominating the collegiate club scene.
"The guys started believing in themselves," Watkins said. "They've never had a sniff of this, they've never had an opportunity to do this before."
With the score tied 1-1 after each team logged a first-half goal, Cavanaugh stole a muffed Seahorse pass near midfield.
"It was off a deflection - I was just running through, and I knew I had it," he said. "It was one-on-on with the goalie - a good bounce."
And an easy goal past Southern California keeper Eric Reed in the 61st minute.
BYU opened the scoring in the first half in the 37th minute, as junior midfielder David Clark took a crossing pass from defender Hugh VanWagenen from the right side and made a quick turn from 18 yards out in front of the net and rifled the ball into the back left corner.
Southern California countered with its equalizer just before intermission, as defender Drew VanWagenen picked up a yellow card on a penalty inside the box. The Seahorses' Josh Hansen took the penalty kick and opted for a line drive to his right, with BYU keeper Michael Lacey getting a harmless slap on the ball before it reached the back of the net.
E-mail: taylor@desnews.com