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The BYU women's soccer team celebrates a goal scored by Olivia Wade-Katoa (10) during a first round NCAA Tournament match against Utah State at South Field on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Olivia Wade-Katoa (on the ground) executes a slide tackle during a first round NCAA Tournament match against Utah State at South Field on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Kendall Petersen (16) battles with a Utah State player for the ball during a first round NCAA Tournament match at South Field on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Allie Fryer (23) handles the ball against Utah State in a first round NCAA Tournament match at South Field on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU student section cheers during an NCAA first round tournament match against Utah State at South Field on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Olivia Wade-Katoa, center, celebrates with her teammates after scoring a goal against Utah State in a first round NCAA Tournament match at South Field on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU women’s soccer team wanted to leave no doubt in its first round NCAA Tournament match against Utah State.

Mission accomplished.

The Cougars dominated play from the opening kickoff and grabbed a 2-0 victory Friday at South Field in front of a sellout crowd of 4,569.

The win moved No. 1 seed BYU into the second round next week and also avenged the Cougars only regular season loss, a 1-0 shocker in Logan when BYU was unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the country.

In the fact, the Aggies were 2-0-1 against BYU in the last three meetings, so they had the Cougars’ full attention.

“I think we definitely came into this game with a chip on our shoulder,” BYU senior midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa said. “I think that’s something that we’ve been really working on all week long is getting up for this game. All week long we were super locked in and super focused on what we needed to do tonight.”

The numbers bear out BYU’s domination. The Cougars took 28 shots while holding the Aggies to a season-low seven and had 9 shots on goal the visitors 3. BYU also had 12 corner kicks and didn’t allow Utah State a corner until the final minute of the game.

“We felt it was a tough draw to play a team like Utah State, with as good of a season as they’ve had, as a No. 1 seed,” Cougar coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “They are a fantastic team and gave us a good run at it. But I’m proud of these girls, proud of our seniors and proud of this team to come out the way they did and really control most of the game. It was really important for us to get that early goal and then we just finished it off.”

Senior Kendall Petersen got BYU on the board in the 10th minute. She deked the ball past a Utah State defender in a move she makes dozens of times a game. That opened Petersen up for a hard left-footed shot that snuck just inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.

‘I just saw the space and took my touch wide,” Petersen said. “Jen’s been telling me I need to keep my shots low and so I tried to keep it low. It looks like she knows what she’s taking about.”

“Sometimes I do,” Rockwood responded.

“It was a banger,” senior midfielder Jamie Shepherd added.

Utah State nearly found an equalizer 22 minutes in when Bizzy Arevalo broke loose and sent a shot that went just wide of the goal. At the 29-minute mark, Bella Folino’s header was true but saved by USU goalkeeper Diera Walton.

The Cougars took that 1-0 lead in the halftime break despite a 12-3 advantage in shots, mainly due to some acrobatic work by Walton in goal (five saves).

BYU controlled possession the entire second half and patiently kept up the pressure on the Utah State defense. Finally, in the 73rd minute, Wade-Katoa hammered a shot that bounced off the crossbar and into the goal for a 2-0 lead.

“Something we talked about before the game is that when I have that much space I have to just let it rip,” Wade-Katoa said. “When I got that ball from Ellie (Walbruch) I just knew that was my time to let it rip so I did and it worked out.”

BYU (17-2-3) will host a regional next week, taking on No. 8 seeded USC. The Trojans edged Grand Canyon 1-0 on a penalty kick in the 66th minute on Friday.

“One of the goals the girls have had coming into the season was to play well enough to earn a 1 or 2 seed,” Rockwood said. “South Field is electric and the best atmosphere in women’s college soccer to play in. Getting that No. 1 seed and knowing that we would have some home games if we got the job done goes a long way. It says a lot about what this team has accomplished this year to be one of the top four seeds in the country at this point. We played a very competitive non-conference schedule and did well in our new conference which led to this point where we have the opportunity to keep playing at home.”

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