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Provo • BYU's women's soccer team won the West Coast Conference championship for the third straight year and is ranked No. 15 in the country, but a relatively low RPI means the Cougars will travel for their first-round NCAA Tournament game.
The Cougars (14-4-3) will play at Colorado (13-6-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the tournament gets underway across the country. The winner will almost certainly play at perennial power North Carolina next week in a second-round match.
The Cougars barely reacted when BYU was flashed across the large television screen Monday afternoon at the Broadcast Building on campus, obviously disappointed that they didn't receive a home game. Colorado placed third in the Pac-12, but has an RPI of 39.
A few moments after the selection show ended, coach Jennifer Rockwood stood up and said, "Well, Colorado knocked us out of the tourney last year."
The Buffs won that second-round game 2-1 in Tallahassee, Fla., after BYU had advanced with a win over Weber State at South Field.
"Obviously, we have a lot of revenge ready for them," said BYU senior defender Annie Amos.
San Diego and Pepperdine also made the tourney field, meaning the WCC has had at least three teams in the field every year since 2009. Pepperdine knocked off BYU 3-2 last Saturday, a loss that quite likely pushed the Waves into the field and kept the Cougars from hosting a first-round match.
This will be BYU's 16th NCAA Tournament appearance in the program's 20 seasons.
And it completes a remarkable turnaround for Rockwood's program, which was 1-3-2 at one point in the season before going 12-1-1 the rest of the way.
"I am just really proud of how the girls just battled and battled to turn their season around," Rockwood said.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU at Colorado
O NCAA women's soccer first round
At Boulder, Colo.
Saturday, 1 p.m.