STANFORD, Calif. – A magical 2019 season for the Prairie View A&M women's soccer team came to an end versus Stanford during a 15-0 loss Friday evening in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Cardinals, which came into the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, seized an early advantage as leading scorer Catarina Marcario curled a shot from the top of the box into the net during the fifth minute of play.

Marcario went on to score or assist on six of Stanford's eight first-half goals, leading the Cardinal with four goals and four assists. Sophia Smith and Bianca Caetano-Ferrara also notched hat tricks for Stanford (19-1).

Nevertheless, the 2019 campaign remains one worth documenting for the Prairie View A&M history books.

The season marked the first time the Lady Panthers (13-8) won the Southwestern Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament, setting a new program record for conference wins along the way with nine. It marked the first time that the Lady Panthers entered the NCAA Tournament as champions.

It marked the first time in five years that the Lady Panthers had put together a double-digit win total in a single season. And it also marked the first time the Lady Panthers had amassed a winning streak of 10 or more matches, nine of those wins coming via shutout.

And though this marks the final collegiate game for senior forward Diana Neff and senior defenders Alexis Mack, Alex Fields and Gina Zavala de Rojas, there's plenty for the Lady Panthers to build around in 2020.

Prairie View A&M returns three of its league-high five all-conference selections, including first-team forwards Jojo Bernal and Ashley Chala, and second-team goalkeeper Quinn Josiah, who made 13 saves against the Cardinal. 

The Lady Panthers also return the 2019 SWAC Tournament MVP in Kalia Brown as well as all-tournament performer Andrea Nugent.

In place is a championship-winning core that's a year older, a year wiser, and most importantly, driven to ensure that the Lady Panthers grow into a perennial soccer power team within the SWAC.

With all these things working in favor of the Prairie View A&M women's soccer program, it's easy to see why the best may still be yet to come on The Hill.