NCAA Tourney Bid Sends Cougars to Stanford

PROVO -- For the fifth year in a row, the No. 8 BYU women's soccer team (17-3-2) received a bid to play in the NCAA Women's Soccer College Cup.

"We're excited to be a part of the NCAA tournament this year," said head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We want to get back out on the field and prepare for Santa Barbara. I think we're in pretty good shape, preparation wise, but we're going to have to be at our best."

The Cougars are in the Stanford bracket and play UC Santa Barbara (9-9-3) on Thursday while the Cardinal (20-0-0) play Northern Arizona (9-8-2). The winners advance to the round of 32 and will play each other on Saturday.

UCSB won the Big West conference tournament while Northern Arizona clinched the automatic bid in the Big Sky Conference. This will be the first meeting between the Gauchos and Cougars.

BYU has an 8-9-3 record in the NCAA tournament. In 2003, BYU advanced to the Elite Eight after wins over Colorado, Idaho State and Villanova.

The Cougars and San Diego State are the two teams representing the MWC in the tournament.

The match between BYU and UC Santa Barbara is at 4:30 p.m. PT. Thursday's winners will play Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.