Catarina Macario leads top-ranked Stanford past BYU

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Nov 30, 2019

BYU, the only unbeaten team left in the country, was no match for No. 1 Stanford, which returned to the Women's College Cup for the 10th time with a 5-1 win

Four goals in 26 minutes in the first half -- the first two by Catarina Macario -- broke the game. Macario upped her season total to 32 goals, the most since Christine Sinclair scored an NCAA-record 39 goals for Portland in 2005.

TAKE THE LEAD

Stanford's Catarina Macario scores first against BYU!#NCAASoccer | @stanfordwsoccer pic.twitter.com/tv4zdw471U

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 29, 2019

“Hats off to BYU for an incredible season," said Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe. "This game was much closer than the score indicated but I am so proud of our student-athletes for staying focused on our goal of winning a national championship. It took us a few minutes to settle in today but I was thrilled with the result and am excited for this chance to play for a championship so close to home.”

Stanford will take a 17-game winning streak into the semifinals against UCLA on Friday, a rematch of its 1-0 win over the Bruins on Oct. 19. The College Cup will be played at nearby Avaya Stadium in San Jose.

Nov. 29 in Stanford, Calif.
Stanford 5 BYU 1. Goals: Macario (Haley) 17, Macario (Haley, Smith) 30, Pickett 41, Tran (Malatskey, Goad) 43, own goal 54; Serassio 64.
Stanford -- Meyer, Wesley, Hiatt, Girma, Pickett, Doms, Briede, Macario, Haley, Malatskey, Smith. Subs: Rood, Enge, Stahl, Goad, Tran, Rubinstein, Ayson, Greubel, Caetano-Ferrara.
BYU -- Davis, Braby, Serassio, Guinn, Lyman, Jefferson, Shepherd, Flake, Colohan, Affleck, Tucker. Subs: Brockbank, Maughan, Petersen, Clark, Ballstaedt.
Att.: 2,041.