No. 1 Stanford shuts out No. 5 BYU 6-0 in women's soccer Sweet 16

The BYU women's soccer team was coming off a win over UCLA prepared to play on No.1 Stanford's home turf, but this time against Stanford Monday afternoon in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Right off the bat Stanford wasted no time taking control of the game. In the seventh minute Jasmine Aikey buried a shot into the top-right corner of the net. And only three minutes later, Andrea Kitahata doubled the lead with another clinical finish to the same spot, and by the 18th minute Aikey had her brace, giving the Cardinal a 3–0 advantage.

BYU tried to keep up in the match, but wasn’t quite able to finish on its first half opportunities. Stanford kept the pressure on and goalkeeper Caroline Birkel sustained the shutout with a save off of Halle Dixon's shot. Elenaor Klinger added a fourth goal in the 34th minute for Stanford by securing a shot to the top-left corner.

BYU entered halftime down 4–0 after a half dominated by Stanford’s intense pace and precision.

To start off the final 45 minutes Stanford didn’t come in complacent and picked up right where they left off, extending its lead in the 54th minute when Charlotte Kohler scored the top-left corner off a well-placed ball from Eleanor Klinger.

Just three minutes later, the Cardinal struck again and this time Klinger finished the play herself with a shot to the bottom-left corner after a nice setup by Andrea Kitahata. The Cougars kept their efforts and energy up, but couldn't find a way to create their wave of momentum over Stanford's commanding play.

Stanford’s quick back-to-back goals cemented its control of the match as the Cardinal continued to dominate the Cougars with a finishing shutout of 6-0.

The Cardinal added onto their all time record lead over the Cougars, 7-3-1. Stanford will now continue on to the Elite Eight and play No. 2 Michigan State Saturday.