Making its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Women’s Soccer College Cup, BYU’s women’s soccer team will face UC Santa Barbara today at 4:30 p.m. in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Cougars (17-3-2) have an 8-9-3 all-time record in the NCAA tournament. In 2003 BYU advanced to the Elite Eight after beating Colorado, Idaho State and Villanova. BYU has made 11 appearances in the tournament in school history, and have been invited every year but one since joining the Mountain West Conference.

“We’re excited to be a part of the NCAA tournament this year,” BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We want to get back out on the field and prepare for Santa Barbara. I think we’re in pretty good shape, preparation wise, but we’re going to have to be at our best.”

UC Santa Barbara (9-9-3) won its second straight Big West Tournament championship last Saturday afternoon. The Gauchos are making their ninth appearance in the tournament.

Santa Barbara is led by junior forward Kailyn Kugler who was named Big West Offensive Player of the Year. Kugler enters the match against BYU with nine goals and five assists.
The Gauchos have a 6-5-2 in road and neutral site games and are unbeaten in their last five games away from home, where they finished 3-4-1.

“BYU has an outstanding program,” UCSC coach Paul Stumpf said in a statement. “They have a lot of experience in the postseason but getting them on a neutral field should make things interesting.”

The winner of the BYU and UC Santa Barbara game will go on to the round of 32 and will play the winner of the game between Stanford (20-0-0) and Northern Arizona (9-8-2). The game will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.

The Cardinal won the Pac-10 Conference title and became the first team in conference history to maintain a perfect record through the regular season. Stanford has outscored its opponents 70-12, thanks in large part to senior Kelley O’Hara, who set the school with 23 goals this season. In 2008, Stanford reached the semifinals of the College Cup.

Northern Arizona advanced to the NCAAs by beating Idaho 4-0 in the Big Sky Conference tournament final on Sunday. The Lumberjacks are led by Kristi Andreassen, Brenna Boies and Jenna Samora, who were named to the All-Big Sky first team. Samora scored eight goals this season.

This is Northern Arizona’s second consecutive year playing in the NCAA tournament.