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BYU goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson (right) gets a hug from teammate Hallie Dixon after a penalty kick shootout victory against Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at South Field on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Izzi Stratton (right) races downfield against Utah State in a first round NCAA Tournament match at South Field on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Mia Lopez (left) is challenged by Utah State's Kaeda Wilson in an NCAA Tournament first round match at South Field on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson celebrates the end of a penalty kick shootout victory against Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at South Field on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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As the BYU women’s soccer team gathered for the penalty kick showdown against Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Cougar junior defender Izzi Stratton told her teammates to get into their “power stance.”

Stratton flexed her power and made good on both of her PK’s, goalkeeper Chelsea Peterson continued her amazing post-season run with three saves in the shootout and the Cougars prevailed in a heart-pounding 7-6 victory in front of a delirious sellout crowd of 3,566 at South Field.

“PK’s are 95% mental and so right when we stepped off the field we said to ourselves, ‘Square your shoulders, keep your head up and get the job done,'” Stratton said. “‘If you don’t feel like you own the place, act like you do, and then get the job done.'”

When 110 minutes of soccer could only produce a 1-1 draw, the two teams each lined up their ten best shooters for the penalty kick finish. Stratton was the 11th shooter and her kick gave the Cougars a 7-6 advantage. Utah State’s Rachel Reitz had her shot go wide of the goal and BYU swarmed Peterson, knocking her to the ground in celebration.

Peterson amped up the home crowd on the west end of the field where the shootout took place with her energy and determination.

“In shootouts, my role is to save one and let our shooters score,” said Peterson, who took over as the starter due to an injury late in the regular season. “Outside of that, my role is to create chaos and make the shooters’ minds just turn to goop. So I’ll do what that means. A lot of times it means making me look like a crazy person. But if it gets the job done, its get the job done. Tonight, that job got done.”

Both teams were exhausted at the end of nearly three hours of soccer.

“I’ve been in PK’s before in the NCAA Tournament, but nothing past five,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “So it was quite something for what Chelsea was able to do and how she’s led this team throughout the Big 12 Tournament and again tonight. I’m super proud of what Izzi’s been able to do, kind of anchoring our back line and our defensive energy has been our main focus in postseason play.”

BYU got on the board first in the 27th minute, freshman Mia Goettsche beating her defender with a deft move and smashing a left-footed shot into the goal for a 1-0 lead.

That lead held up until the 53rd minute, when Mia Mullenmeister headed in a gorgeous pass from Tess Wertz for the 1-1 tie.

Utah State, which made a run to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed last week, had a hard shot by Kaeda Wilson soar over the crossbar in the first overtime. In the second extra session, BYU’s Hallie Dixon had two great looks, one going off the crossbar and Ellie Walbruch also found some space inside the six but Utah State’s Taylor Rath, as she had the entire second half, came up huge in goal with a diving save and the score remained 1-1 to force the penalty kick session.

“I knew when we saw the (NCAA) draw that most likely it would be Utah State,” Rockwood said. “That was a tough draw for a team that’s a five seed to have to play a team as good as Utah State. I think that’s probably one of the toughest seeded games in the first round. So I have tons of respect for Manny (USU coach Manny Martin) and the Utah State team. What a crowd, what an atmosphere for women’s soccer. It was a fantastic night for college soccer.”

BYU (12-6-4) awaits results from Saturday to find out its destination for the second round. Stanford, which topped Cal Poly 3-1 in the first round, is the No. 1 seed and will host, playing No. 8 Alabama. The Cougars will take on Saturday’s UCLA-Pepperdine winner.