BYU upsets No. 14 Texas Tech 2-1 to clinch bye at Big 12 soccer tournament

PROVO — Lucy Kesler, Avery Frischknecht and the Cougars picked a great time for their first winning streak of the 2024 season.

The freshman midfielder connected with the sophomore center back in the final minute of play to help BYU women's soccer stun No. 14 Texas Tech 2-1 in the regular-season finale for both teams Friday night in Lubbock, Texas.

Combined with Monday's 3-0 win over Houston that celebrated the program's three seniors, BYU (8-5-5, 6-2-3 Big 12) won back-to-back games for the first time all season.

The win helped clinch a top-four finish in the Big 12, and a first-round bye in the conference tournament that begins Wednesday at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City. It might also do even more for the Cougars' postseason.

Rated No. 38 after Thursday in the NCAA's RPI that helps determine seeding and at-large bids for the national tournament each year, BYU's win over No. 27 Texas Tech could push the Cougars inside the top 35 in the RPI.

After winning the league for the third time since 2020, TCU (14-2-2, 9-0-2 Big 12) is the top-rated team in the RPI from the Big 12 at No. 16, followed by West Virginia at No. 20 and Texas Tech. Oklahoma State, which lost to the Horned Frogs 2-0 on Friday, was also rated ahead of BYU at No. 29.

Utah booked the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament after a 0-0 draw in the regular-season finale with Colorado, which will face the Utes (8-5-5, 5-3-3 Big 12) in the opening round of the tournament.

But a year after graduating 11 seniors, including five NWSL draft selections off a team that advanced to the College Cup semifinals for the second time in three years, a freshman- and sophomore-loaded BYU team could find itself back in the bracket conversation after opening the season 1-2-2 with losses to then-No. 3 UCLA and then-No. 19 UCLA.

Earlier Friday, such a standing didn't seem plausible.

Taylor Zdrojewski gave the Red Raiders (13-3-2, 8-1-2 Big 12) a lead following a corner kick in the 40th minute.

Texas Tech was riding a 27-match Big 12 regular-season winning streak after last year's conference title, and was unbeaten in its last 14 when scoring the first goal of the match (13-0-1). The Red Raiders had only allowed two second-half goals all year.

But BYU didn't quit.

MacKenzee Vance roped her fifth goal of the season from a free kick to equalize in the 53rd minute, and the Cougars — who narrowly out-shot the hosts 16-14 with a 6-5 edge in shots on target — kept coming.

Finally, with about 35 seconds left, Kesler lined up a set piece from outside the box that Frischknecht ran on to the end for her fourth goal of the season — all with her head, or whatever you might call her stomach-laced first goal of the year.

The win pushed BYU one point ahead of Oklahoma State (13-3-3, 6-3-2 Big 12) for the final first-round bye in the conference tournament.

TCU earned the No. 1 seed for the tournament in the home stadium of the NWSL's Kansas City Current, followed by No. 2 Texas Tech and No. 3 West Virginia (12-4-2, 8-2-1 Big 12).

After Oklahoma State and Kansas (9-5-4, 6-4-1 Big 12), Utah earned the No. 7 seed in Kansas City following a 0-0 draw at Colorado that pushed the Utes to 8-5-5 overall with a 5-3-3 mark in their first season in the Big 12.

Below is the complete schedule for the Big 12 women's soccer championships. Every game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

First Round — Oct. 30

• No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Cincinnati, 10:30 a.m. MDT
• No. 8 Utah vs. No. 9 Colorado, 1:00 p.m. MDT
• No. 7 Arizona vs. No. 10 Baylor, 3:30 p.m. MST
• No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 11 Arizona State, 6:00 p.m. MST

Quarterfinals — Nov. 2

• Oklahoma State/Cincinnati winner vs. No. 4 BYU, 10:30 a.m. MDT
• Utah/Colorado winner vs. No. 1 TCU, 1:00 p.m. MDT
• Arizona/Baylor winner vs. No. 2 Texas Tech, 4:30 p.m. MDT
• Kansas/Arizona State winner vs. No. 3 West Virginia, 7:00 p.m. MDT

Semifinals — Nov. 6

• Oklahoma State/Cincinnati/BYU vs. Utah/Colorado/TCU, 3:30 p.m. MDT
• Arizona/Baylor/Texas Tech vs. Kansas/Arizona State/West Virginia, 6:00 p.m. MDT

Final — Nov. 9

• Championship Match, 6:00 p.m. MDT

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