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A week ago, the BYU women's soccer team was on a 13-game unbeaten streak, a 15-game conference unbeaten streak, and had already clinched its third-straight West Coast Conference championship.
But the Cougars lost 3-2 at Pepperdine in a regular-season finale — and the opportunity to host an NCAA Tournament first-round match. Instead, they are on a road trip to frigid, snowy Colorado for a match with the Buffaloes, third-place finisher in the Pac-12.
Weather conditions for Saturday's 1 p.m. MST match are expected to be downright miserable.
Temperatures will be in the low 20s, and there is a 50 percent chance of snow. The winner moves on to face North Carolina next week.
Colorado (13-6-1) knocked BYU (13-4-3) out of the tournament last year in a second-round match in Tallahassee, Florida, and is coming off a 2-0 win over Utah.
"Obviously, we have a lot of revenge ready for them," said BYU senior Annie Amos, the WCC Defender of the Year.
The Cougars will rely on sophomore Ashley Hatch, the WCC Co-Player of the Year.
Michele Murphy, Niki Fernandes, Elena Medeiros, Bizzy Phillips and Taylor Campbell Isom also earned all-WCC honors. Phillips and Isom made the all-WCC Freshman Team.
This will be BYU's 16th NCAA Tournament appearance, and it completes a remarkable turnaround for coach 20-year coach Jennifer Rockwood's program, which was 1-3-2 at one point in the season before going 12-1-1 the rest of the way.
Twitter: @drewjay —
No. 15 BYU at Colorado
O NCAA women's soccer tournament, first round, Saturday, 1 p.m.
TV • Pac 12 Network