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Provo • Shortly after suffering their first loss of the season on Labor Day more than two months ago, the BYU women's soccer team wanted a rematch with powerful Stanford.
Now, they've got it.
The No. 10-ranked Cougars (16-2-2) will take on the top-seeded Cardinal (17-2-1) at 8 p.m. Thursday on Stanford's Laird Cagan Stadium in an NCAA Tournament second-round game. Stanford edged BYU 1-0 on Sept. 7 at Stanford after a neutral-site match in Hawaii was canceled due to a tropical storm and wet field conditions.
The winner will meet the winner of the Santa Clara-Arizona match on Saturday at 11 a.m. MST at Stanford.
"It's important for us to do what we've been doing," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said of the rematch. "It's not very often you get a chance to play the same team twice in a season, especially a team as great as Stanford is. We're preparing like we have for every game.
"We know we have to believe in ourselves, get the job done and be confident when we get on the field, but more than anything, it's a fantastic opportunity and we're pretty excited about it."
BYU, which felt like it should have been seeded in the tournament after winning its fourth-straight West Coast Conference title, nipped Utah Valley 1-0 in Provo on an Elena Medeiros goal last Saturday to advance, while Stanford topped San Jose State 2-0 in Palo Alto with an own goal and a first-half tally by Averie Collins.
"You spend the whole season, all the training, all the games, all the travel, to have an opportunity to play in the NCAA [tournament]," Rockwood said. "Right now, there [are] only 32 teams playing, so that's very significant and at the end of the weekend, there will only be eight teams left. It's obviously a huge game for us.
"The fact that we're playing Stanford in the second round is what has been given to us and it's a great opportunity to play one of the most successful women's soccer programs in the history of soccer. We'll be ready for them and they'll be ready for us."
Stanford dominated the Labor Day match, scoring in the first half and shutting down BYU's potent attack. But the Cougars were rallying late, and nearly tied it when Ashley Hatch's shot hit the crossbar in the 75th minute. Hatch suffered a knee injury three games later against Oregon State that shelved her for almost two months. She's back, and has been coming off the bench for Rockwood the last few games.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Women's soccer tournament
P BYU at Stanford
Thursday, 8 p.m.
Live streaming • GoStanford.com
Radio • 960 AM