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PROVO -- A closely contested NCAA Tournament match between the No. 20 BYU Cougars and Virginia Tech Hokies resulted in a 2-0 victory for the Cougars in front of an energized home crowd Thursday night at South Field.

The competition was equally balanced in the first half with both teams managing five shots. The Hokies were at an advantage partway through the half with four shots on goal to the Cougars’ one. However, three close shots from Cougars Auna Janis and Lauren Anderson evened the count.

The Hokies won the corner kick battle as they had seven to the Cougars’ one in the opening 45 minutes. For three of those kicks, McKinzie Olson made big stops, saving in traffic or knocking the ball over the post. Olson finished the first half with four saves.

With five minutes before the half, forward Kassidy Christensen got behind the Hokie defenders on a breakaway Cougar possession and put the shot into the right corner of the net for a 1-0 BYU lead.

“I got through and was just able to stay calm and composed,” Christensen said about the goal. “I just snuck it into the corner and it went in.”

The Cougars came out strong in the second half with a barrage of shots on goal, matching Virginia Tech’s first half amount with four. Jennie Marshall got things going for the BYU offense with two consecutive shots on goal in the opening minutes.

With the increased sense of urgency in the second half, both squads played more physical as evidenced with one yellow card from each side. Kassidy Christensen and Laurie Puglisi were charged for the physical play. Both teams received nine fouls in the game.

In the 76th minute, BYU made a key substitution, putting in Katie Larkin and forward Becca Riddle in for Christensen and Marshall. Riddle had an open shot on goal blocked by the Hokies goalkeeper Kristin Carden immediately upon her arrival.

On the next possession, Riddle received the ball just outside the Hokie box and proceeded to pass it to an open Alyssa Vander Veur. She then passed the ball on to a trailing Larkin who put the ball into the upper left corner of the net.

The Cougars finished the game with 13 shots compared to Virginia Tech’s seven. The Hokies continued to battle for goals with corner kicks, but to no avail as the Cougar defense and keeper Olson managed to hold them scoreless.

BYU was determined to stop Hokie Emily Jurkich, who made 15 goals during the season, and fellow forward Julian Johnson, who had 9 assists throughout the year. Jurkich was held without a shot in the game.

“We knew she had had a great season,” said BYU defender Andrea Willis. “We were able to step up and I think she got a little frustrated and out of her zone.”

The team also gave credit to the crowd.

“It was so exciting to play at home again,” Larkin said. “I’ve also considered the crowd to be another person on our team and we just fed off the positive energy they provided.”

No. 20 BYU moves on to play No. 10 USC this Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at South Field. USC moved into the second round by beating Boston University by the score of 2-0.

“USC is the defending national champions,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “It gives us another chance to showcase how we play and we’ll do our best to prepare for them.”

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                            Soccer Box Score (Final)
                       The Automated ScoreBook For Soccer
                     BY vs VT (Nov 13, 2008 at Provo, Utah)
BY18-5-0 (7-0-0 MWC) vs.                                    Goals by period       1  2  Tot
VT10-9-4 (4-4-2 ACC)                                        -------------------------------
Date: Nov 13, 2008  Attendance: 1390                        BY..................  1  1 -  2
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 50 Degrees                          VT..................  0  0 -  0
BY                                                      VT
Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A               Pos ## Player                Sh SOG  G  A
------------------------------------------              ------------------------------------------
GK  32 OLSON, McKinzie.....   -   -  -  -               GK  0  Kristin Carden......   -   -  -  -
F   3  ANDERSON, Lauren....   1   -  -  -               MF  2  Brittany Michels....   2   1  -  -
D   4  COOK, Karen.........   -   -  -  -               D   3  Stephanie Hylton....   -   -  -  -
MF  5  FELLER, Whitney.....   -   -  -  -               D   3  Stephanie Hylton....   -   -  -  -
D   10 CARTER, Jessica.....   -   -  -  -               D   6  Kelly Lynch.........   1   1  -  -
D   11 WILLIS, Andrea......   -   -  -  -               F   9  Julian Johnson......   -   -  -  -
MF  15 KAKADELAS, Kelsea...   -   -  -  -               F   10 Emily Jukich........   -   -  -  -
MF  16 JANIS, Auna.........   2   -  -  -               F   14 Laurie Beth Puglisi.   -   -  -  -
F   18 LARKIN, Katie.......   1   1  1  -               F   17 Robin Chidester.....   1   -  -  -
F   22 HODGKISS, Katie.....   2   1  -  -               MF  20 Jennifer Harvey.....   1   1  -  -
D   25 URRY, Nicole........   -   -  -  -               D   21 Kim Hickey..........   -   -  -  -
     ---------- Substitutes ----------                  MF  23 Kelsey Billups......   -   -  -  -
    7  MARSHALL, Jennie....   2   -  -  -                    ---------- Substitutes ----------
    9  DRAEGER, Amanda.....   -   -  -  -                   8  Megan Strawther.....   1   1  -  -
    12 RIDDLE, Becca.......   1   -  -  1                   11 Kylie Stankovics....   -   -  -  -
    14 JAMESON, Ashleigh...   -   -  -  -                   12 Niki King...........   -   -  -  -
    21 CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy   1   1  1  -                   13 Mauri Liberati......   -   -  -  -
    23 VANDER Veur, Alyssa.   3   1  -  1                   16 Jordan Parsels......   1   -  -  -
       Totals..............  13   4  2  2                   18 Jessica Varela......   -   -  -  -
                                                               Totals..............   7   4  0  0
BY                                                      VT
## Player                 MIN  GA Saves                 ## Player                 MIN  GA Saves
---------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------
32 OLSON, McKinzie.....  90:00  0     4                 0  Kristin Carden......  90:00  2     2
Shots by period       1  2  Tot                         Saves by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
BY..................  5  8 - 13                         BY..................  4  0 -  4
VT..................  5  2 -  7                         VT..................  0  2 -  2
Corner kicks          1  2  Tot                         Fouls                 1  2  Tot
-------------------------------                         -------------------------------
BY..................  1  2 -  3                         BY..................  4  5 -  9
VT..................  7  1 -  8                         VT..................  4  5 -  9
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL   Time Team     Goal Scorer              Assists                                  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   38:32 BY       CHRISTENSEN, Kassidy (6) (unassisted)
 2.   76:03 BY       LARKIN, Katie (11)       VANDER Veur, Alyssa; RIDDLE, Becca
CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS:
YC-BY #21 (72:58); YC-VT #14 (83:27)
Officials: Referee: Brandon Majors; Asst. Referee: Mark Sackett; Karen Grant;
Alt. Official: Philip Parish; Timekeeper: Jerry Freestone; Scorer: Sara Harris;
Offsides: BY 3, VT 2.

PROVO -- The NCAA announced the 2008 Women’s Soccer College Cup Bracket on Monday, and the Cougars will host the first and second rounds of the tournament for the first time since 2002.

“We’re just so excited,” said head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “We knew we had an outside chance to host, and the girls are really excited. We get great support at home, and it’s another chance for our seniors to play at home, so we’re looking forward to it.”

No. 22 BYU (17-5-0, 7-0-0 MWC) will play against No. 25 Virginia Tech (10-8-4, 4-4-2 ACC) on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. The two other teams coming to Provo are No. 10 USC (15-4-1, 5-3-1 Pac 10) and Boston University (15-5-1, 8-0-0 America East), both will also play on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. The winners of each game will meet in the second round at South Field on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

The meeting between BYU and Virginia Tech will be the first meeting between the two schools. Virginia Tech lost to No. 1 North Carolina 3-0 in the ACC Tournament Championship Game. The Cougars are 2-0 (1-0 at home) all-time against Boston University. The teams last played in 2001, with BYU winning 4-0. BYU is 2-3-2 all-time. (2-0-1 at home) against Southern California. The last time the Cougars faced the Trojans was in 2004 in Los Angeles, battled to a 1-1 in two overtimes. USC is the defending National Champion, defeating Florida State 2-0 to win the 2007 College Cup.

Tickets will go on sale Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Prices for All Session tickets (to all three games) are $15 for reserved seat tickets, $12 for adult general admission tickets, $7 for student general admission tickets, and $1 for children general admission tickets. Prices for single game tickets are $10 for reserved seat tickets, $7 for adult general admission tickets, $4 for student general admission tickets and $1 for child general admission tickets. Tickets can be ordered online at www.byutickets.com, by calling the Marriott Center ticket office at 800-322-BYU1 (2981) or 801-422-BYU1 (2981), or in person at the Marriott Center ticket office.

Updated game times, ticket prices and other information will be available at the BYU women’s soccer home page at www.byucougars.com/soccer_w/.

This appearance will be the 11th trip to the NCAA tournament for the Cougars in the past 12 years. BYU’s best performance in the tournament took place in 2003, when the team advanced to the Elite Eight.

A complete pdf bracket of the tournament can be accessed by clicking the link at the top of the release.