The first-year USL W League expansion side punched its ticket to the league championship Saturday night, when BYU’s Ellie Walbruch scored the only goal of the semifinal match in first half stoppage time and Taylor Rath made it stand up in a 1-0 win over Minnesota Aurora FC at TCO Stadium in Eagan, Minnesota.

Walbruch scored in the 47th minute, when McKenzie Evans Tostado slid a one-touch pass into the penalty box that the BYU forward guided into the back of the net.

It was the fifth goal of the season for Walbruch, who played in just four matches in the regular season before an injury.

On Saturday night, the forward from Highland, Utah, was as good as new — and her defense, perhaps, even better.

“It feels amazing, especially with this being our first year in the USL,” Walbruch said. “It’s been an awesome experience, and we’re so grateful to be here. It was amazing to score my first goal here, and credit to my teammates for getting me into that position. I’m excited for the natty, to play for it back in Utah.”

Rath, the rising senior graduate transfer at Utah State, collected the club’s seventh shutout of the year and Connecticut-bound center back Kaitlyn Richins led a back line to consecutive postseason clean sheets.

Utah United (9-1) will host the USL W League championship match Saturday, July 19 against defending champion NC Courage U23.

The Courage (10-0) advanced to their third consecutive league final with a 2-1 road win over Asheville City SC.

Kickoff time and additional match details will be announced when finalized.

Milkowski signs pro contract

Former BYU softball catcher Lindy Milkowski has signed a professional deal with the Fastpitch United’s Florida Vibe, the team announced.

The Vibe are one of six members of the Fastpitch United league, joining the Kansas City Diamonds, New York Rise, Atlanta Smoke, Orlando Monarchs and OKC Spark. Midway through its 2025 season, teams play between a 2-4 game series, with the Vibe’s home games held at the State College of Florida in Bradenton, Florida.

Milkowski led the Big 12 with 18 runners caught stealing this past season, which ranked No. 11 nationally. She paced the conference with 12 home runs in league play and also posted the conference’s second-highest slugging percentage (.851) against Big 12 opponents. The Olathe, Kansas native finished with the team’s second-best slugging percentage (.772), on-base percentage (.445), RBI (33), home runs (18), total bases (105) and walks (24).

She is the third former Cougar to sign a pro deal in the last two offseasons. Left-handed pitched Chloe Temples and left fielder Maddie Bejarano both signed with the Women’s Professional Fastpitch’s (WPF) Hub City Adelitas last summer.