The BYU Cougars may be West Coast Conference champions, but their season isn’t finished. The Cougars head to California this weekend to take on No. 12 Pepperdine in their final conference game of the season.
BYU (13-3-3, 7-0-1) already clinched its third straight West Coast Conference title last Saturday with a 4-0 win over Pacific. While this game won’t change anything as far as conference standings go, it could affect the Cougars’ position in the NCAA Tournament bracket.
The women’s soccer team enters its last game of the regular season on a 13-game unbeaten streak. BYU’s shutout against Pacific Saturday put senior goalkeeper, Katherine Snyder, on top of the league standings in goals allowed per game. Snyder and the Cougars are only allowing on average 0.63 goals per game.
The Cougars’ offense is averaging three goals per game, with Ashley Hatch leading the team and conference in goals scored with 17 so far this season.
BYU has only faced one other ranked team so far this season: Long Beach, whom the team beat. Pepperdine (14-2-3, 5-1-2) will be the second ranked team the Cougars have played this year. Last season when these two teams met, the Cougars held on for a 1-0 win over the Waves.
Pepperdine started off the season hot with a seven-game win streak but has gone 3-1-2 in its past six games. The team is coming off a 3-1 win over LMU last weekend. The Waves are currently in third place in the WCC behind BYU and Santa Clara. A win over BYU and a loss by Santa Clara would clinch second place in the conference for the Waves.
The Waves are led by senior forward Lynn Williams and senior midfielder Ally Holtz. Williams has scored 12 goals and has six assists so far this season. Holtz leads her team with seven assists.
Pepperdine’s sophomore goalkeeper, Hannah Seabert, and the defense have combined for 10 shutouts this season. Seabert has only allowed 12 goals.
The game is at 1 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, Nov. 8. On Monday, Nov. 10, the NCAA tournament draft takes place, where the Cougars will find out their bracket and ranking for the tournament.
