Provo • Win-loss records may not necessarily be an indicator of anything when the postseason rolls around, when a team with a hot streak can roll right on by a team with a better resume.
But on Saturday, in the third round of the NCAA tournament, the BYU women’s soccer team looked every bit the part of a team that had not lost a game all season.
Against visiting North Carolina State, which entered the postseason having won only half of the regular-season games it played, the Cougars dominated the action and emerged with a 3-0 win at the BYU South Field.
“We wanted to make sure we set the tone and dictated the speed of play,” said Cougars coach Jennifer Rockwood. “We wanted to make sure their attacking players, who are so dangerous, had to step back and play a little difference.”
In the quarterfinal round, BYU will face the winner of Sunday’s match between Stanford and Penn State.
Unlike its previous game in the tourney, in which no score was tallied in the first half of a 4-0 win over Louisville, Brigham Young (21-0-1) got on the scoreboard early against N.C. State (12-6-4).
Just under 12 minutes into the contest, junior Cameron Tucker found the net from the right side of the goal for a 1-0 lead. At the start of the second half, Tucker would eventually tally the game’s final goal — a chip shot after Wolfpack keeper Jessica Berlin came out to stop Tucker’s run but couldn’t contain the ball after an initial shot.
At the 33rd minute mark, junior defender Josie Guinn doubled the lead with a shot that found the upper-right corner of the N.C. State goal just over the outstretched right arm of Berlin.
Guinn echoed her coach’s emphasis of making the Wolfpack forwards play defense when recalling her score.
“I was trying to get up and I feel like the funnest time of playing soccer is when you don’t have to defend much,” said Guinn, who netted only the second goal of her collegiate career. “If I make the forward try to defend me, that’s the best situation.”
“Josie’s practiced that shot almost every day this year,” Rockwood added. “She’s earned that.”
When the Cougars’ scoring pace abated in the second half, BYU senior keeper Sabrina Davis sparkled in goal.
Davis made nice diving saves in the 47th and 57th minute and then made a point blank stop on North Carolina State’s Tziarra King 15 minutes into the second half.
King was again thwarted on another stellar effort by Davis in the 64th minute.
“You can always count on Sabrina,” BYU defender Alyssa Jefferson said. “I might be biased, but she always plays great. She’s always ready and guiding us and she really sets the tone for us.”
Tucker added her second goal of the game in the 49th minute, giving BYU a 3-0 lead.
As for the Cougars’ next opponent, Rockwood didn’t contain her bias — hoping for a home game against Penn State rather than a road contest at Stanford.
“Obviously, we’ll be cheering a bit for Penn State wanting to come back here and play in the snow next week,” Rockwood said. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s kind of what we talked about all year. It doesn’t matter where, we’ll prepare the same and be ready to go.
“They’re both very good teams,” she added. “But we’re a good team this year too.”