PROVO, Utah — BYU women's soccer head coach Jennifer Rockwood announced the schedule for the 2018 fall season on Thursday.
The slate is highlighted by the home opener against the reigning College Cup Champion Stanford. The Cougars take on five teams from Power 5 conferences, including three against the PAC-12, one against the SEC and one against the Big Ten. The schedule features four former national champions and five teams that were ranked in the United Soccer Coaches 2017 postseason poll.
BYU will open up with the annual Blue and White scrimmage at South Field on Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. MDT. The following weekend, the Cougars will travel to Southern California for an exhibition match against UCLA on Aug. 10. The South Field attendance record was set when 5,735 fans watched as BYU fell 1-0 to the Bruins in 2017 when UCLA was ranked No. 1 in the nation. Exhibition play closes with the annual Alumni match on Aug. 14.
Regular season play will begin at Cal State Fullerton on Aug. 17, the first of a three-game road trip. The Cougars tied the Titans 1-1 at South Field in 2017. The following week BYU will take on Nebraska and Texas A&M on Aug. 20 and 24, respectively. The Aggies finished the 2017 season ranked No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
The Cougars’ home opener will be against Stanford on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. MDT. The Cardinal beat UCLA 3-2 in last year’s College Cup final. Stanford finished the 2017 season with a dominant 24-1 record, with the only loss to No. 8 Florida in the third game of the season.
In September, BYU will host Idaho State on Sept. 1 before traveling to take on Utah in the Deseret First Duel on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. MDT. On Sept. 17, BYU will play at Marquette before returning home for a four-game home stand.
The final non-conference matches will take place at South Field as the Cougars compete against Long Beach State on Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. MDT and Utah Valley on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. MDT in the UCCU Crosstown Clash.
West Coast Conference play begins on Sept. 27 as BYU hosts Gonzaga and former BYU associate head coach Chris Watkins. In 2017, the Cougars downed the Bulldogs 6-3 in Spokane, Washington. BYU will continue at home against Portland on Sept. 29 before taking a road trip to play San Diego, Pepperdine, Pacific and Saint Mary’s. Pepperdine finished the 2017 season ranked No. 16 and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament after winning the WCC title.
The final two home games will take place on Oct. 25 and 27 against San Francisco and Santa Clara. The Broncos made it to the third round of the NCAA tournament and were ranked No. 20 at the completion of the 2017 season. Regular season play wraps up on Nov. 3 at Loyola Marymount.
Tickets will be available at byutickets.com, the BYU Ticket Office or at South Field beginning an hour before kickoff. Season and VIP tickets will go on sale on June 18 and individual games will be available starting on July 30.