BYU invites Santa Clara to South Field Friday night

The Cougars will compete against a familiar face in the Santa Clara Broncos on Friday evening in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

BYU invites Santa Clara to South Field Friday nightBYU invites Santa Clara to South Field Friday night
Jaren Wilkey/BYU

PROVO, Utah – Earning a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars will host Santa Clara for the first round on South Field Friday evening.

The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT and will be streamed on ESPN+.

LAST TIME ON THE FIELD. BYU fell to TCU 2-1 in the Big 12 Soccer Championship semifinal.

BYU vs. Santa Clara

THE COUGARS. BYU (9-6-5, 6-2-3 Big 12) faced TCU in the semifinals of the Big 12 Soccer Championship, falling to the Horned Frogs 2-1 in Kansas City last week. Despite losing in the semifinals, Allie Fryer and Mackenzee Vance were named to the All-Tournament team because of their strong performances throughout the championship. Fryer tallied a brace in BYU’s quarterfinal match against OSU, while Vance tallied goals in back-to-back games, scoring BYU’s lone goal against TCU.

THE BRONCOS. No. 11 Santa Clara (12-3-4, 6-1-3 WCC) last played Saint Mary’s, beating the Gaels 3-0 to clinch its 14th WCC title in program history, its fourth in five seasons. Although the title was shared with Pepperdine, the Broncos earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament due to the tiebreaker of having a better goal differential in conference play. Santa Clara held a 16-3 advantage in shots and a 6-2 edge in shots on frame.

COUGARS VS. BRONCOS. The Cougars and Broncos have a long history as previous conference foes. The teams have faced off 19 times, with Santa Clara leading the overall series 9-3-7. The last time the teams played, BYU and Santa Clara tied 0-0 on South Field on October 29, 2022, the final game of the regular season before the Cougars went on to play in their first NCAA College Cup championship game.