After its most convincing display in the NCAA Tournament thus far, the No. 1 Stanford women’s soccer team is back in the College Cup for the second consecutive year.

The Card (24-0-0) swept aside a talented Boston College team — the two seed in the region — Friday night at Cagan Stadium, winning 3-1 with a controlled possession style that kept Stanford in the driver’s seat all match. It was a far cry from the team’s first three tournament matches, in which the Cardinal looked uncomfortable and off its game for large stretches.

“This was our best performance of the tournament,” said Stanford Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe. “We played great possession soccer and scored three great goals.”

You couldn’t have blamed the team for losing its composure when Boston College (18-4-2) got off to a dream start not even two minutes into the match. BC’s sophomore Julia Bouchelle received a pass near the top of the box before dribbling to her left and unleashing a low shot with her left foot. Stanford junior goalkeeper Kira Maker flung herself to the left, but could only watch as the ball caromed off the far post and into the net to give the Eagles a shock lead. Just one minute and 35 seconds had ticked off the clock.

Despite giving up its first goal in NCAA tournament play, however, Stanford was not rattled. The team went right back on the offensive and equalized play just 50 seconds later. Junior forward Christen Press saw her long range effort hit the crossbar, but senior Kelley O’Hara was in perfect position to tap in the rebound and make it 1-1 less than three minutes into the match. Surprisingly, it was the first goal of the postseason for the record-setting forward — but it would not be her last.

The teams were back at level pegging, but it was the Cardinal that looked likely to grab the lead. O’Hara nearly added another in the 23rd minute, but was narrowly beaten to a loose ball by Eagles’ sophomore keeper Jillian Mastroianni, and Press shot just wide after cutting between three defenders in the box two minutes later.

The pressure paid off in the 27th minute, though, when sophomore Lindsay Taylor flicked on a long ball and Press slipped it past the backline to O’Hara, who was making the run. The senior outraced the BC defenders and blasted a shot over the on-rushing Mastroianni to make the score 2-1. The goal pushed her single-season goals record to 25 and also gave Press the single-season mark for assists with 15 on the year.

Press came close to getting a goal of her own numerous times before the end of the half, but was unable to find the back of the net. Still, Stanford was dominating the match, outshooting BC 18-3 in the first half. The Eagles weren’t completely out of the game — Maker had to make a fine one-on-one stop on BC’s freshman Victoria DiMartino in the 43rd minute — but the Stanford backline kept the Eagles’ opportunities to a minimum.

Boston College fired another warning shot to begin the second half. In the 49th minute, Eagles freshman fullback Kristen Mewis swung in a cross from the left that found senior Gina DiMartino — Victoria’s sister — at the top of the box. The midfielder sent her shot toward the upper corner of the goal, but once again Maker was there for the save.

The remainder of the match was all Stanford, as the Card outshot BC 12-1 over the final 40 minutes. O’Hara came close to completing a hat trick multiple times, but it was Press who would finish off the scoring, providing the knockout punch in the 85th minute.

Senior defender Alicia Jenkins played a long ball out of the back and Press used a burst of speed to charge past the BC backline before calmly slotting low past Mastroianni. The goal — her 20th of the year — made it 3-1 and effectively punched Stanford’s ticket to College Station, Texas for next weekend’s College Cup.

Much of the attention afterward was on Stanford’s two goal scorers, but O’Hara was quick to credit the defensive effort as well.

“Boston College is an amazing team and our defense held them to five shots [for the entire match],” O’Hara said, who<\p>–<\p>along with the rest of the senior class<\p>–<\p>played her final match on the Farm. “Everyone did their jobs tonight.”

Ratcliffe echoed his star’s comments after the comprehensive victory.

“This was a really strong performance against a good BC team,” he said. “I’m very proud.”

The Cardinal will now face conference rival UCLA on Friday, since the Bruins (21-2-1) defeated Portland 2-1 to claim their seventh consecutive College Cup berth. The game will be a rematch of the Oct. 18 conference match, which Stanford won 2-0 at home. That match was the key as the Card ended UCLA’s run of six straight Pacific-10 Conference championships and the Bruins are sure to be out for revenge.

UCLA and Stanford will be joined in Texas by defending national champions North Carolina (21-3-1) and last year’s runners up Notre Dame (21-3-1), which makes this year’s final four the exact same as last year’s. Last year’s Cardinal team — Stanford’s first to make the College Cup since 1993 — lost 1-0 to Notre Dame in the semifinals, but the 2009 version is confident that this year will be different.

“We’ve been there before — we have experience,” O’Hara said. “Hopefully [that experience] will lead us to two wins next weekend.”

Friday’s semifinal match will kick off at 2:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast by ESPN2 and ESPNU. The national championship match will be played at 10 a.m. on Sunday and will be shown on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.