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BYU Women’s Soccer succeeded in 2018 despite tourney loss

By Shaun Gordon

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 20: A soccer ball sits at the back of the net during a Melbourne Heart A-League training session at La Trobe University Sports Fields on March 20, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 20: A soccer ball sits at the back of the net during a Melbourne Heart A-League training session at La Trobe University Sports Fields on March 20, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images) /
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BYU Women’s Soccer fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but even with the loss the 2018 season was exactly what it needed to be.

The season has come to an end for BYU Women’s Soccer, and it’s done a little sooner than the team and fans would have hoped.

The Cougars fell 2-1 at TCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, ending BYU’s season with a 13-5-1 record.

The Horned Frogs flipped the switch on  the Cougars, storming back after trailing 1-0 at the half. That’s exactly what BYU was known for this season. TCU did it to them this time.

But even with the loss, the Cougars did exactly what they needed to do this year.

In 2017 the team entered the season as West Coast Conference favorites, with experience and depth. Instead, they limped along to a 7-8-4 year, one of the few losing seasons in the program’s history.

2018 needed to be a bounceback year, and that’s exactly what it was. The Cougars were picked to finish third in the WCC, instead they won it outright.

They cracked the Top 25 again.

They made the NCAA Tournament again.

They put the program right back where it belongs, a Top 25 team year in and year out with Top 10 potential every few years.

And the Cougars are built to have that Top 10 potential over the next few years. Just look at the conference awards that BYU players received, and pay particular attention to those players’ years:

  • Elise Flake (Jr.) – All-WCC First Team
  • Mikayla Colohan (So.) – All-WCC First Team
  • Alyssa Jefferson (Jr.) – All-WCC Second Team
  • Rachel Bingham Lyman (Jr.) – All-WCC Second Team
  • Sabrina Macias Davis (Jr.) – Honorable Mention All-WCC
  • Olivia Wade (Fr.) – Honorable Mention All-WCC and Freshman All-WCC
  • Bella Folino (Fr.) – Freshman All-WCC

Takeaways from the UMass win. dark. Next

Every Cougar on that list will be back in 2019, and three of them will suit up for BYU in 2020 or beyond.

So yes, the season may have ended on a bit of a sour note, but the season was far from sour.

And the future looks even sweeter.

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