Women's soccer: BYU beats Utah Valley in first round of NCAA Tournament

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BYU's Elena Medeiros scored in the 21st minute as the Cougars defeated Utah Valley 1-0 in a first-round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday in Provo.

The win was BYU's fourth straight NCAA playoff victory at South Field.

"I'm really proud of the girls today," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "Anytime you get to the NCAA Tournament you know it's one and done so it puts a lot of pressure on both teams. I'm really proud of the way we played and the way we prepared."

The Cougars (16-2-2) will travel to face top-seeded Stanford in the second round of NCAA play Thursday. Stanford defeated San Jose State 2-0 in a first-round game on Friday.

BYU fell to the Cardinal 1-0 on the road on Labor Day in a nonconference match.

BYU's winning goal against UVU came when Jocelyn Loomis found WCC Player of the Year Nadia Gomes just outside of the UVU box. Gomes dribbled around a defender before passing to Medeiros, who put it past the Wolverine goalkeeper into the bottom left corner of the net from the top of the box.

The goal — Medeiros' eighth of the season and 14th of her career — helped the Cougars remain undefeated at home this season.

BYU goalkeeper Rachel Boaz made three saves to earn the shutout.

BYU's Paige Hunt was given a yellow card in the 27th minute after a tie-up in front of Boaz, resulting in a Wolverine free kick. The free kick was taken by UVU's Kasandra Anderson but was blocked by the Cougar wall and cleared out of the defensive zone preserving the BYU shutout.

UVU (14-7-1) made a late attempt to tie the game when Breanna McCarter's shot found its way through the Cougar defense but sailed right of the net in the 76th minute. In the 81st minute, McCarter fired another shot from the right side that was stopped by Boaz.

BYU finished the game outshooting UVU 18-7. The game had 22 total fouls with UVU committing 16 and BYU committing six.