Air Force celebrates their win over BYU.
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Air Force Upsets BYU 2-1, Plays SDSU In Semifinal

Two goals in the first 26 minutes seal victory for Falcons.

Nov. 3, 2004

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PROVO, Utah - Two goals in the first 26 minutes of the game was all Air Force needed to upset No. 2 seed BYU 2-1 in the third quarterfinal game of the 2004 Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer Championships, Wednesday at BYU's South Stadium.

The Air Force Academy came into the conference tournament as the No. 7 seed. Senior forward Elaine Tatarek, from St. Louis Park, Minn., put the Falcons on the scoreboard at the five-minute mark of the first half on a pass from teammate Meredith Benson. Five minutes later the Cougars tied it up 1-1 on a Bobbi Tillotson goal off a corner kick from Carolyn Swenson. In the 26th minute, the Falcons sealed the upset victory on an unassisted goal by Raegan McDowell as she dribbled past Cougar goalkeeper Erika Woodbury.

"For us to come in and beat them at their place is huge for us," said Falcons head coach Marty Buckley. "Our kids never quit, they know they are playing a quality team in BYU. "We had some mistakes in the regular season, but tonight we did not make any of those."

Despite outshooting Air Force 13-5 in the first half, BYU went into the locker room down 2-1. In the second half, the Cougar team came out strong, getting several scoring opportunities, but could not get one in the goal. BYU forced the Falcon defense to work hard as the ball was on the Air Force side of the field the vast majority of the game. At the end of 90 minutes of action, the Cougars had a 21-6 advantage in shots taken and did not allow the Falcons any corner kick opportunities. BYU had seven corner kicks, all in the second half.

"It obviously wasn't our best game, but we can take this and learn from it," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We have a young team with everyone coming back next season, so we'll look forward to that."

Air Force improves to 4-12-2 and will meet San Diego State in the second semifinal game on Thursday, at 7 p.m., while BYU ends the 2004 season with a 7-10-4 overall record.

The championship semifinals get underway tomorrow at 4:30 p.m., with No. 1 seed UNLV vs. No. 4 seed Utah.