- Chelsea Peterson's heroics helped BYU beat Utah State 7-6 on penalties.
- Peterson made three saves in the shootout after a 1-1 draw in Provo.
- BYU advances to face UCLA or Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament's second round.
PROVO — Chelsea Peterson may be the best story in college soccer right now; and that story continues for at least one more match.
Izzi Stratton converted her second penalty kick after extra time, and Peterson made three saves in a shootout to help fifth-seeded BYU advance over in-state rival Utah State 7-6 after a 1-1 draw Friday night at South Field.
Ellie Walbruch, Mika Krommenhoek, Afton Perry, Mattyn Summers-Oviatt and Mia Goettsche also converted a penalty during an 11-round shootout for BYU (11-6-5).
So did Utah State's Rachel Reitz, Tess Werts, Hadli Barrera, Samantha Sellers, Summer Sofonia and Talia Winder before Reitz's second attempt drifted wide to Peterson's left in front of a manic "Roar of Cougars" student section behind the west goal.
"In a shootout, my role is to save one penalty maybe, and the shooters score. Outside of that, it's to create chaos and make the shooters' mind turn to goo," Peterson said. "I'll do whatever that means; and a lot of times, it means me looking like a crazy person.
"But it gets the job done."
One year ago, the former Utah starter transferred to BYU after an 18-month mission in Manchester, England — and without a spot on the Cougars' roster.
But through attrition, early retirements and a late season-ending injury to initial starter Paiton Collins, the redshirt junior found herself acting "like a maniac" in front of the BYU student section to help BYU advance in its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament and 26th tourney in 31 seasons under head coach Jennifer Rockwood.
"The humor just hits me; I'm like, what on earth is happening?" Peterson said after the match with a wide smile. "All through fall camp, I was just having moments where I'm like, what? How did this happen?
"It's definitely surreal, though."
COUGS SURVIVE pic.twitter.com/ayR6hMR5ti
— BYU Women's Soccer (@byusoccer_w) November 15, 2025
From essentially retired from soccer to a Big 12 Tournament title and (now) NCAA Tournament game-winner. She hardly touched a ball in two years after transferring and serving a mission, and she had offers to play at several schools before the Orem native and former USYS national champion with Utah Celtic transferred closer to home.
"I felt really strongly to come to BYU, which I did," added Peterson. "And this works, I guess. God sends people where he needs them to be."
At this, Rockwood leaned over next to her and whispered: "And we're all blessed because of it."
They were Friday night.
Mia Goettsche opened the scoring in the 19th minute, taking a pass from Mika Krommenhoek into the corner of the penalty box before lobbing a left-footed ball inside the far post for a 1-0 advantage that would stand up through halftime.
But two teams that knew each other so well that Utah State coach Manny Martins joked that he and Rockwood could swap lineups and coach one another's teams didn't go quietly.
The Aggies (10-6-7) made a goalkeeper change at halftime, replacing Allee Grashoff with Taylor Rath — the graduate senior transfer from Pepperdine who was named Mountain West Tournament MVP after winning the title via penalty kicks over host Boise State.
The Las Vegas native who originally signed with UTSA won a USL W League title on South Field with Utah United this past summer, and she looked like the story of the match.
Rath made a pair of saves after halftime, including denying Walbruch from point-blank range in the 104th minute, and Mia Mullenmeister's 53rd-minute equalizer helped the Aggies force extra time for a third straight match.
"Taylor's a future pro, for many reasons; not just for her performance on the field, but also how she handled the tail end of the season and some of my decisions," said Martins, whose team was eliminated from the tournament on penalties for the second straight year. "She was always ready when we called upon her.
"I didn't expect any less, and that's why we put her out there."
She's also a "fantastic teammate," one the Aggies are "lucky to have" on a young team, teammate Summer Diamond added.
"She's a fantastic shot stopper, and she's always going to give her all to the defense in front of her," Diamond said. "I can't wait to see her next chapter."
BYU will face the winner of Saturday's match between fourth-seeded UCLA (11-5-3) and Pepperdine (11-6-2) in the second round.
