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PROVO — Technically, Connor Fordham didn’t have to make the shot.
The BYU men’s soccer team was off to an unbeaten start in Premier Development League play, and a 1-1 draw with Albuquerque Sol FC in the Cougars’ home opener would’ve continued a pretty good run.
But Fordham wanted the Cougars’ start to be more than “pretty good.” He wanted to make the Cougars’ start great.
The BYU sophomore squared his hips, lined up a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time, and delivered a line drive past Albuquerque goalkeeper Elliot Rubio.
Game. Set. Match.
The two-goal performance by Fordham helped the Cougars rally from a 1-0 halftime deficit for a 2-1 win over the Sol (0-3), clinching an unbeaten 3-0-1 start to the regular season.
“I was confident; I’ve taken penalties my whole life, and I felt confident going up,” said Fordham, who has a team-high four goals in four games and earned PDL team of the week honors. “I knew if I put it in my spot, the keeper wasn’t going to be able to block it.”
It’s still early in the season; BYU has only played one match at home, and faces a two-game road trip to FC Boulder U-23 and Colorado Rapids U-23 this week.
But the vibe is different for the Cougars in 2017 after a 4-6-4 record in 2016, one year after losing longtime head coach Chris Watkins.
“It’s awesome,” Fordham said. “I’ve been on some winning teams, but this one is definitely something different.”
In Brandon Gilliam’s second season as head coach, the former BYU goalkeeper has the Cougars clicking early. With a switch to a new formation and a host of talent like Fordham, striker Blake Frischknecht and goalkeeper Brenden Ottman, BYU has risen to second place in the PDL’s Mountain Division with six points and three games in hand over first-place FC Tucson, which lost to the Cougars 3-0 in the two teams’ season opener.
There’s a new feeling around BYU soccer, and a former “die-hard Utah fan” is as big of a cause as any.
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Fordham grew up in Salt Lake City. A second-team all-state defender at Brighton High, Fordham remembers cheering for the University of Utah with his parents, both Utah graduates, in his Cottonwood Heights neighborhood that featured as much crimson red as Bengal orange.
“I actually grew up a Ute fan my whole life,” Fordham said. “But I felt like coming to BYU was the right decision for me, and I’ve loved it so far.”
Fordham served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Peru, then enrolled at BYU and made the university’s semi-pro soccer team in 2015.
The Cougars do not play in the NCAA; after departing the collegiate club soccer scene with seven national titles, BYU purchased a franchise in the Premier Development League in 2003.
But there is plenty of competition in the PDL, a designated fourth-division league by the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Fast forward to 2017, when the Cougars have scored nine goals, conceded just twice, and lead the PDL’s Western Conference with 2.5 points per game.
But it all starts in practice, coach Gilliam said.
“If you are the most organized group in training, but there is no energy, passion or desire, then it won’t do anything for you in games,” Gilliam said. “We can talk about formations and adjustments. But if the players don’t want it, there is nothing you can do.”
The Cougars got a taste of winning during an undefeated preseason slate against college teams, including a 5-0 win over Utah’s club team. That confidence and enthusiasm carried over into PDL play, picking up a 3-0 win and a 1-1 tie at FC Tucson on opening weekend.
The results are the byproduct of a new commitment in each training session, and a new 3-5-2 formation.
“The biggest focus is just who wants it more,” Gilliam said. “Anybody can play any system and win in that system. Anybody can be a good player and have the opposite results. But if you don’t want it more than the person across from you, you aren’t going to get the result, no matter how good your team is.”
Fordham has also played a key role in the 2017 squad after a season of mostly reserve work.
“You get two things with Connor, and No. 1 is consistency,” Gilliam said. “The kid is the most consistent player on the field, and he is consistent with his work rate. No matter how the game is going, he is still working the same. His consistency is always there.
“No. 2 is that he’s gotten more confidence than anybody on the field. When he steps in with confidence, he knows he can take care of his situation.”
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Every morning during the week, BYU men’s soccer players arrive on campus to practice during a lazy summer in Provo.
Fewer students line the campus’ sidewalks, and fewer classes take up time at the university. The Cougars gather at training to get better, and possibly find a pro career after finishing college — but not for a college scholarship.
Still, every morning the Cougars are working, either outside on Haws Field next to University Avenue or inside the football team’s Indoor Practice Facility next door.
It was there that the idea for the 3-5-2 formation was born.
The Cougars would transition the common four-man back line into three stout defenders, with a pair of wingbacks pacing the sidelines that could run the length of the field and contribute on offense and defense.
“It was in the early spring, starting in January,” Fordham said in describing the formation switch. “We had an idea to play a 3-5-2, and we’ve been working on it and on our defensive shape. The goals have just been coming.
“Being able to play with the same team for six months has been working for us.”
The three-man back line adds two more wingbacks on BYU’s roster that the Cougars haven’t used often in recent years. It allows players like Fordham to get forward, and captain Josh Hunter to plan a barrage of setup crosses, through-balls and free kicks that has the Cougars averaging 2.25 goals on 7.25 shots per game.
“I think coach has put us in fantastic spots, we’ve got the personnel, and this 3-5-2 puts us in spots that let us play on the wings or down the middle, and it gives us a team belief,” Fordham said.
The Cougars know they haven’t earned anything yet. After this week’s road trip, BYU hosts four-straight games at South Field beginning June 16. A winning streak will put them in contention for a division title, a berth in the PDL playoffs, and a bid in next season’s U.S. Open Cup — the “U.S. Soccer national championship” bracket that features teams from the amateur levels to Major League Soccer, and every level in between.
But first comes more practice.
“Going through the motions in practice and not having fire in practice, you end up doing the same thing in games,” Gilliam said. “The intensity from the second half (against the Sol) is the way practice looks; they just want it more. They want more than they’ve had in the past, and they want more going forward.
“If they keep that up, anything is possible this year.”
