With win at Stanford, BYU Cougars have chance to get to NCAA soccer tourney’s Final Four

When Sabrina Macias Davis first came to BYU in 2015, she had just moved away from home and didn't know anyone. It felt like an even more difficult transition because she had suffered an injury her senior year of high school, which led to Davis redshirting her freshman season.

With all of Davis’ family in Colorado, then-senior Michele Murphy Vasconcelos took the wide-eyed freshman goalkeeper under her wing and would have her over for dinner throughout the year. When Vasconcelos’ time at BYU came to an end, she made Davis promise that she would return the favor for another freshman when she became a senior.

So, while juggling classes, a part-time job and a postseason run that has led the No. 2-seeded Cougars to the quarterfinals at top-seeded Stanford on Friday, Davis has invited a freshman over to her house for dinner every week.

The team’s chemistry has been a key part of what led BYU to its first undefeated season (21-0-1) and its third trip to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in program history.

“I think our culture has been huge for us and, again, so much of it goes to just the players and how they felt it's so important and all the extra work and extra mile they've gone to incorporate our young players and make everyone feel a part of the team,” coach Jennifer Rockwood said.

The team will share at least one more meal together. After leaving for California on Wednesday, the Cougars were going to share Thanksgiving dinner at their hotel Thursday and then go to a movie.

Then it’s back to business — to try to make it to the College Cup for the first time.

So far, through the first three rounds of the tournament, the Cougars have outscored opponents 12-1. BYU’s scoring offense is second in the nation with 80 goals in 22 games. Stanford, however, holds the top spot with 93 goals in the same number of games.

The Cougars and the Cardinal are eighth (.468) and ninth (.476) for goals-against average, respectively.

Rockwood recognizes there is a lot of comparisons between both programs but expects her team to keep scoring a lot of goals.

“We know, just like we've always known, you have to expect to score two goals to win,” Rockwood said. “That's kind of been our minimum number. We've been fortunate this year to consistently score more than two, but we know going in that we have to score two goals. And that's what we're shooting for.”

Davis also finds hope in the fact that Stanford was able to run away with a 15-0 victory over Prairie View A&M a couple of weeks ago. Had the Cardinal not been able to score that many goals in a single game, BYU would be the top attacking team in the country.

So, that gives the Cougars hope, Davis said.

Forward Elise Flake, who leads the team with 20 goals, said the players have also talked to their sports phycologist, Craig Manning, to prepare for the quarterfinal game.

“He encourages us to focus on staying in the present [and] playing our game this week,” Flake said. “We’ve been focusing on that and just playing into our strengths.”