Cougars host Weber State in NCAA first round

PROVO, Utah - West Coast Conference co-champion BYU will host Big Sky tournament champion Weber State on Friday in the first round of the 2013 women's soccer NCAA tournament. The game will kick off at 5 p.m. MT and will be televised on BYUtv.

The Cougars (14-4-1, 8-1-0) enter the postseason on a seven-game winning streak, while the Wildcats (10-4-5, 5-2-2) are in the midst of a five-game unbeaten streak.

"It is a great matchup," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "It is important that we don’t look beyond that. If you can’t make it past the first game you’re not going anywhere, so it doesn’t matter what comes after that."

Weber State needed penalty kicks to defeat Big Sky No. 1 seed and host Portland State in the Big Sky championship on Saturday.

The only other NCAA tournament meeting between the two teams was in 2005. Weber State and BYU drew 1-1, but the Wildcats advanced on penalty kicks 4-3. The Cougars are 14-0-1 all-time against Weber State.

"Those are some of the games as coaches that make you the most nervous because the kids all know each other and there is a rivalry there," Rockwood said. "There seems to be a little more emotion on the line because of the familiarity that everyone has."

This is the 15th appearance in the NCAA tournament for BYU and is the third appearance for Weber State and first since 2005.