BYU ekes out NCAA Tournament win over Utah State in lengthy penalty shootout

It took everything BYU had to get past Utah State in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night in Provo, as the Cougars outscored the Aggies in penalty kicks 7-6 to keep their season from coming to an end.

It marks the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the Cougars have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, this time playing to a 1-1 draw before surviving penalty kicks. 

“We knew it would be a battle,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We talked about, you could never count Utah State out. They were going to compete for 90 minutes.”

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The rival schools competed far beyond 90 minutes, the Cougars ultimately getting the upper hand on the teams’ 11th penalty kicks when the Aggies were unable to match the home squad’s successful try. 

The teams entered the contest on hot streaks and accustomed to pressure after both won their respective conference tournaments last weekend.

The Aggies ended their regular season in third place in the Mountain West before taking down first place finisher Boise State in the title match; the Cougars became the first team in Big 12 history to win the conference tournament after winding up with the eighth seed. 

En route to its title, BYU topped No. 5 ranked TCU in penalty kicks, giving the Cougars experience that paid off in Friday night’s thriller. 

“I just felt with this group that they were pretty confident,” Rockwood said. “(Against) TCU, we came through big on that one and then we just kind of kept the same order from that TCU shootout.”

That order proved to be just enough to preserve BYU’s season.

Nobody came up bigger for the Cougars in the penalty shootout than junior defender Izzi Stratton and junior goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson. 

Stratton drilled a pair of penalty kicks, including BYU’s 11th try that ultimately proved the difference.   

“I think it goes back to your preparation,” she said after making the most of the pressure-packed moment. “I feel like I’ve taken probably hundreds of PKs just in my front yard, and so when it really counts, it’s just muscle memory.”

Peterson flexed her muscles when it counted most as well, saving three penalties and doing her best to get inside the Utah State players’ heads in such a tense moment.  

“My role is to create chaos and make the shooters’ … mind turn to goo,” she said. “I’ll do whatever that means, and a lot of times it means making me look like a crazy person.”

It took some crazy events, but the Cougars advanced, making Peterson’s efforts worthwhile. 

BYU freshman midfielder Mia Goettsche scored the Cougars lone goal of the night in the first half, finding the back post on a left-footed strike in the 19th minute.

BYU led 1-0 heading into halftime.

“I thought when we went up 1-0 … we had some good momentum,” Rockwood said. “I thought we’d probably get (another) one.”

However, the second goal never came for BYU. Instead, Utah State swung the

momentum to its sideline, wasting little time out of the locker room before equalizing in the 53rd minute on a cross in the box from Aggie senior forward Tess Werts.

The pass found the head of Werts’ sophomore counterpart Mia Mullenmeister, who put the ball in the back of the net.

Neither team would crack the rest of the way, forcing 20 minutes of extra time before the fateful 22 penalty kicks. 

The defeat keeps the Aggies searching for their first NCAA tournament win, as they fell to 0-5 all time in tournament contests and 0-3 against the Cougars in those matches.

The latest defeat might be the hardest one to swallow though, essentially coming as close to the second round as a team can without reaching it. 

After such a gut-wrenching loss, nobody would fault Utah State if the team returned to Logan, took some time off and drowned its disappointment in some Aggie ice cream. However, players and coaches remain determined as ever to build off the successes of this season. 

“We’ve learned so much through this season,” Utah State head coach Manny Martins said. “(We’re) a really young team. … (The) future’s very, very bright and obviously we’ll take this, learn these lessons and then next season starts next week.”

Following the victory, BYU advances to the second round of tournament play where it will face the winner of Saturday’s match between UCLA and Pepperdine.

In this year’s home opener, the Cougars defeated the Bruins 1-0 but have not faced the Waves since 2022 in their final West Coast Conference campaign.