It ended in triumph.

The Cougars lost sophomore captain Avery Frischknecht to a red card in the first half of the season opener at No. 24 Minnesota, then gave up a goal to trail 1-0 at halftime.

Down to just 10 players, BYU mounted a stunning comeback to seize a 3-1 victory at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on Thursday.

“Pretty exciting night for us,” Cougar coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “I’m super proud of how well these girls fought. The girls stepped up and at halftime we said, ‘We’re going to go our firing away’. We know we are capable of scoring goals. We just came out with a ton of energy and belief in what they were capable of doing.”

Freshmen Mia Lopez, Mia Goettsche and Sophie Sivulich all tallied goals in the second half as the Cougars won their eighth straight season-opening match.

Down 1-0 at the break, BYU dominated play in the second half despite playing 10 on 11. Sivulich took on her defender on the left side of the box in the 55th minute for a goal-scoring opportunity that was called offside. Just three minutes later, Lopez took on the keeper and fired off a shot from the top of the six for her first collegiate goal, tying the game at 1-1.

In the 75th minute, Lucy Kesler’s shot from outside the penalty box bounced off the hands of Minnesota’s keeper and right to the feet of Goettsche, who put it in the net for BYU’s first lead of the night at 2-1.

The Cougars continued pressing hard in the final five minutes of the match as Sivulich flicked the ball over her defender to Mika Krommenhoek, who dribbled down the right side of the pitch and crossed it back. Sivulich found the back of the net and extending BYU’s lead to 3-1.

In the 31st minute, a red card was assessed to BYU’s Frischknecht and the Cougars went down to 10 players for the remainder of the match.

After holding much of the possession in the first half, the Golden Gophers found Caroline Birdsell at the top of the six, and she slid it past BYU goalkeeper Paiton Collins in the 33rd minute for a 1-0 lead.

Four players had their first career starts for the Cougars tonight, three true freshmen and one sophomore: Afton Perry, Collins, Lopez and Sivulich. In goal, Collins notched her first-ever saves between the pipes with four on the night. Freshmen Kate Denney and Goettsche also saw their first collegiate minutes on the pitch tonight.

Krommenhoek and Kesler tallied BYU’s two assists in the match.

The Cougars outshot the Golden Gophers 26-15, with 12 shots on goal to Minnesota’s five. BYU also had six corner kicks compared to Minnesota’s four. The Cougars forced Minnesota’s goalkeeper to make nine saves on the night.

BYU (1-0) continues its road slate at Cal Poly on Monday. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. MT.