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BYU women's soccer celebrates a 1-0 victory against No. 4 UCLA at South Field on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Paiton Collins makes a diving save in a women's college soccer match against No. 4 UCLA on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Lucy Kessler, right, kicks the ball during a women's college soccer match against No. 4 UCLA on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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No. 4 UCLA took 19 shots against No. 19 BYU on Saturday at South Field and held a big advantage in possession, especially in the second half.

The Cougar defense was up to the challenge.

BYU kept a clean sheet against the powerful Bruins in a 1-0 victory, sophomore goalkeeper Paiton Collins making a spectacular save late in the match to keep the zero on the scoreboard for the visitors and preserving her first career shutout.

“Obviously it’s a huge win for us in the home opener against one of the premier teams in the country year in and year out,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We knew this was going to be a big game. I’m really proud of the way we got started. We moved the ball well and came out confident and strong. We got the first goal, but it was a battle from there. It was a gritty performance by our team. We bent, but didn’t break. Paiton Collins came up with a couple great saves, and the girls just fought hard and protected our box.”

Junior Ellie Walbruch provided the only goal the Cougars would need in the 14th minute with a penalty kick, a shot she blasted past the UCLA goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead that would hold up.

UCLA out-shot BYU 19 to 11, marking BYU’s first game of the season being outshot. BYU is now 4-4-1 all-time in its series against the Bruins.

Both teams came out aggressively. After trading shots on the goal early, BYU scored its only goal in the 14th minute as Walbruch put it in the back of the net off a penalty kick. UCLA then fought back, kicking three corners in the space of two minutes. In the 34th minute, junior Halle Dixon had a clean shot inside the 18-yard box but it went off the goal post. UCLA then had three more shots to end the half, all coming up empty.

Two yellow cards were assessed in the first half, one to UCLA’s Val Vargas and one to BYU’s Mika Krommenhoek. In the second half, yellow cards were given to UCLA’s Bridgette Marin-Valencia and BYU’s Dixon.

UCLA came out quickly in the second half, shooting two shots on goal early and forcing Collins to make a diving grab. BYU took some of the momentum, shooting three consecutive corners in the 73rd minute but were unable to score. The final 10 minutes featured five shots by UCLA in a last ditch effort to tie it up, but BYU’s defense held up.

BYU (2-0-1) hosts the Auburn Tigers at South Field on Friday at 7 p.m. MT, with streaming on ESPN+.