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Show Sports r* • MONDAUUGUSntUOlO Women's soccer downed by BYU Cross-country teams predicted to finish second, third By Craig Halbasch sports editor ! The Signpost It was a tale of two halves for the Weber State University Women's Soccer Team in their 5-1 loss Friday night against 14-ranked Brigham Young University. . WSU played well defensively in the first half, holding the high-powered BYU offense to one goal. The lone goal of the first half came when BYU defender lindsi lisonbee was able to find the ball in a swarm of players and found the back of the net in the 29th minute. Toward the end of the first half WSU settled in and was able to create some opportunities, but was unable to convert those chances into scoring opportunities. The Cougars came out of the half firing early and often in the second half, scoring within the first five minutes. BYU forward lennie Marshall scored on a crossed ball The 2010 Big Sky Conference crosscountry preseason polls are in, and Weber State University's teams are predicted to finish in the top half. The women's team finished with 71 points for second place, just four fewer than top-ranked Northern Arizona University, and also received one firstplace vote. The men's team finished with 57 points and was predicted to finish third in the conference, behind NAU and Montana State University. The women's team is young, but is returning with a strong core of talented runners. "Our women's team is still young," said WSU Head Coach Paul Pilkington. "They were freshmen and sophomores last year and they are still a young group, but they are a very, very talented group." Junior Natalie Haws and sophomore Sarah Callister will lead the women's team, which is composed of four freshmen, five sophomores, four juniors and one senior. Haws is coming off fractures in both of her feet that forced her to miss all of last season. She said she has set many personal goals that she wanted to achieve last year but couldn't accomplish due to the injuries. "I want to place in the top three runners at conference and make it to nationals and compete well in that there," Haws said. Haws said the offseason has been important for the women's team in that it has helped unite them. Senior Brett Hales and junior Chris Burnett will lead the men's team, which Pilkington said does not have a lot of depth this year. "We're quite good through our first three runners, but we will see with our fourth and fifth runners," Pilkington said. "We don't have quite the depth we have had in other years." Hales is coming off a successful spring track season wherein he See Soccer page 10 See Cross-country page 10 TH( SIGNPOST -WSU defender Kiersten Raught and her teammate (top) try to track down BYU midfielder Lauren Anderson. BYU midfielder Rachel Manning (below) slides to stop WSU Kylie Johnson from advancing the ball upfield during Friday night's game. WSU was outshot 23-2 in the game and had difficulties with the speed of BYU. BYU won the game 5-1. WSU falls to 14-ranked BYU 5-1, game delayed by lightning By Craig Halbasch sports editor I The Signpost Men's soccer team opens year with win WSU opens their title defense with 1 -0 win over Olympique Montreaux By Nathan Davis asst. sports editor I The Signpost The Weber State University Men's Soccer Club started the season off on the right foot, with a 1-0 victory against elite Salt Lake City soccer club Olympique Montreaux. The Wildcats hosted OM on Friday night on the WSU campus. The Wildcats looked good in their opening game, and controlled the tempo during the early stages of the game. WSU saw great play from their midfield and were able to showcase considerable passing skills. Despite the good ball control from WSU, Olympique challenged the Wildcat defense early in the game when a player broke through and attempted a shot that was easily handled by the goalie. WSU Head Coach Zach Burton said that Olympique Montreaux, which has finished first or second in the state six years in a row and is "one of the best premier teams in the state. They are one of the best local teams we will play all year." Burton said he was pleased .with his team's performance for their first game, saying that their win was mostly about ball control. WSU missed converting on multiple opportunities in the first half of play. The Wildcats pressed OM's half of the field, repeatedly breaking through, but missed a few chances at securing the opening goal of the game. The breakthrough came toward the end of the first half, when WSU's Scott Whiteside gave the Wildcats the 1-0 lead. The ball was chipped across to Whiteside from the left side of the field; he controlled it with his chest and blasted the ball, freezing the Olympique goalie. After the Whiteside goal, the OM goalie loudly protested to the official that a handball had been committed, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. "We had a good showing in our first game," Whiteside said, "but need to slow the game down more, play at our own pace and create a little more opportunity." Olympique Montreaux didn't give in, and started to press the Wildcat defense. Shortly before halftime, they cut through the WSU defense, but put the shot wide. At the halftime break, the score was still 1-0. WSU started out the second half at a slower pace, holding the ball and making a few breaks down the field, to challenge the Montreaux defenders. The Wildcats almost made it a 2-0 game, but had a goal disallowed for goalie interference after a free kick. For most of the second half, the Wildcats were able to control the pace once again, but were unable to link up in the final third of the field. "I felt that we controlled the ball,"*Whiteside said. "When we got forward we were a little more anxious and panicked." Despite a few late charges down the field, Olympique was unable to equalize, and the game ended with a 1 -0 win for WSU. "It was fun," said WSU team %nember Jeff Patterson. "It is early in the season, so we're a little shaky, but we came out with the win." See Club page 10 PHOTO BY NATHAN CAULrORD | THE SIGNPOST A WSU player leaps over a Olympique Montreaux player to win a ball in the air. WSU men's soccer club defeated OM 1-0. |