BYU Soccer’s Season Ends With Loss To No. 1 Stanford In Elite Eight

STANFORD, Calif. – Heading into BYU’s Elite Eight match against No. 1 Stanford on the farm of Palo Alto, there was hope that the Cardinal had yet to see a team like the Cougars. Instead, BYU had yet to see a team like Stanford.

BYU’s undefeated season has now come to a close with a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Cardinal.

FINAL@StanfordWSoccer 5 | @byusoccer_w 1#BYU's season ends with a 21-1-1 record. The Cougars are now 0-3 all-time in the Elite Eight.#BYUwSOC #GoCougs

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 30, 2019

The domination started for Stanford in the first half. In the first 45 minutes, Stanford had 20 shots and 7 shots on goal to BYU’s four and zero respectively. Stanford star and defending MAC Herman Trophy winner Catarina Macario got the scoring started for the Cardinal in the 17th minute. Thirteen minutes later, Macario was on the attack again scoring another goal to give the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.

After the Cardinal had a two-goal lead, BYU needed to find a way to get to halftime without giving up any more goals. Stanford was just too good. In the 41st and 43rd minutes, Stanford’s Kiara Pickett and Sam Tran got in on the scoring to put the Cardinal up 4-0.

Prior to Friday, BYU’s largest deficit was a two-goal deficit against Santa Clara. BYU found a way to come back in that match to force a draw. In this one, the Cougars had no answer in the second half to make this a game.

And the Cougs fall for the first and ONLY time this season to the No. 1 team in the country#BYUwSOC #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/6XVqfW1HPW

— BYU Women's Soccer (@byusoccer_w) November 30, 2019

In the 54th minute, Stanford scored again to make it a 5-0 Cardinal lead before BYU finally got on the board in the 64th minute on a free-kick goal from Danika Serassio.

Serassio’s goal drew some confusion from officials as it bounced off the crossbar and went behind Stanford goalkeeper Katie Meyer, but it helped BYU avoid a shut out.

The five goals are the most BYU has ever given up in an NCAA Tournament match and is the most since a 2-5 loss against UCLA in 2017.

BYU is now 0-3 all-time in Elite Eight games.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.