BYU women’s soccer: Cougars run out of magic in a crushing 5-1 loss to top-ranked Stanford Cardinal in NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight

BYU’s Ellie Maughan and Rachel Bingham Lyman. | Nate Edwards, BYU Photo

The Cougars saw their magical season end in brutal fashion on Friday, losing to Stanford 5-1 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament.

STANFORD, Calif. — BYU athletic teams would do well to avoid Stanford during NCAA tournament play in the future.

Eight months after the Cardinal women’s basketball team ousted the Cougars in the NCAA tournament, it did the same to the BYU women’s soccer team by a 5-1 score in the quarterfinal round on Friday. The lopsided score was more indicative of when Stanford volleyball swept past the Cougars 11 months ago, however, in the semifinal round of the NCAA tournament.

In short, BYU was never truly in it.

The Cardinal looked every bit the part of its No. 1 ranking, jumping up on the Cougars 1-0 in 17th minute by virtue of a goal from Catarina Macario. The two-time NCAA Player of the Year then pushed the score to 2-0 in the 30th of minute off assists from Madison Haley and Sophia Smith before the flood gates opened.

Just 10 minutes later saw Kiara Pickett find the back of the net for a 3-0 Stanford lead before Sam Tran pushed the lead to 4-0 just over two minutes later, leaving the Cougars reeling going into the half.

The typically prolific BYU offense was all but stalemated throughout the first half, only managing four shots to Stanford’s 20. Defensively the Cougars were pressed more than they have been all season, and by a large margin with the Cardinal able to mount attacks effectively and often.

As if to rub salt in the wound, Alyssa Jefferson, who is easily regarded as one of the Cougars’ top defenders, added an own goal just minutes into the second half, pushing the Stanford lead to 5-0.

The Cougars did manage to get on the board late off a goal from Danika Serassio in the 64th minute, but it was far too little too late, as Stanford moves on to the final four while BYU gets sent home.

​“Stanford is such a great team with great individual players and they have been well-coached. They’ve been playing at this level for so long now,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We didn’t pull the trigger and for some reason we did not get our shots off today and you can’t allow that against a team like this.”

Friday’s match proved a disappointing end to an otherwise spectacular 2019 season for the Cougars.

BYU entered the NCAA tournament without a loss and cruised by the first three rounds by a combined score of 12-1, leading to a lot of optimism entering Friday’s match. But Stanford proved too much, controlling the course of play throughout, leaving the Cougars a bit shell-shocked in the process.

Friday’s match marked the final show for standout seniors like forward Elise Flake, midfielder Lizzy Braby, defenders Jefferson and Rachel Bingham Lyman and goalkeeper Sabrina Davis. The Cougars do return good talent, led by West Coast Conference Player of the Year Mikayla Colohan, and will work toward another deep run in the NCAA tournament.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2rI1qXi