Cougars fall at No. 2 Stanford 1-0

BYU vs. Stanford Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 9 BYU women’s soccer had their early season hot streak detoured against No. 2 Stanford in a 1-0 loss on Monday night.

The 32nd-minute game winner from Stanford’s Jordan DiBiasi was all the Cardinal (4-0-0) needed for the victory.

“Individually they are so good,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “Tactically they played so well together and had us playing more defense than we would have liked. It’s a great learning experience for us and we’ll take it and get better.”

Even without the victory, BYU (4-1-0) gave Stanford a challenge it hadn’t faced yet this season. The Cardinal hadn’t allowed a corner kick all season and BYU earned four in the final 12 minutes. 

Stanford had only allowed three shots in the second half all season. The Cougars found six shots in the second half on Monday, including one off the crossbar from Ashley Hatch and another deflected wide from Elena Medeiros.

“We stepped it up towards the end and competed a little bit better,” Rockwood said. “We were able to relax and knock the ball around.”

The final 20 minutes saw four of BYU’s nine shots and all four of its corner kicks.

Along with handing BYU its first loss of the season, Stanford’s goal also ended the BYU shutout streak and goalkeeper Rachel Boaz’s 388 consecutive scoreless minutes to begin her Cougar career. Boaz finished with five saves on Monday night, including two in the third minute to keep the game scoreless. 

The four-game win streak to start the season is also the quickest start since the 2010 season when the Cougars won five straight. BYU was also the 14th remaining undefeated team in the nation this season.

Against Stanford, Hatch led BYU with three shots and the lone shot on goal. Michele Murphy Vasconcelos added two, while Paige Hunt, Bizzy Phillips and Medeiros each took a shot.

BYU returns home to host Utah State on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. on South Field. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv as well as the Cougar IMG Sports Network and ESPN 960.