BYU women's soccer made Big 12 tournament history Saturday night, winning the Big 12 championship as the No. 8 seed.
The 1-0 win over Kansas in Waco, Texas, secured the upset for the women's soccer team as the Cougars completed this historic run in the Big 12 championship.
“Pretty amazing to come into this amazing conference, and we played in the championship game our first year, and to get back here with everything that we’ve been through, and to kind of gut it out, was amazing,” said BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood. “It was a back and forth, crazy game.”
With a banger goal off the crossbar from Ellie Walbruch from outside the box in the 20th minute, the Cougars held the lead the entire game to win the gritty battle with the Jayhawks.
Walbruch was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player after the game, scoring five times in the tournament's three games.
“I am proud of this group. We’ve worked super hard this season. I mean, we haven’t had the start we wanted, but getting this Big 12 championship means so much, and it’s a perfect time (to be) peaking,” Walbruch said.
Keeper Chelsea Peterson also shined with key saves in the last few minutes of the championship, earning Most Outstanding Defensive Player after recording eight saves in the championship match.
“It’s been a tough year. We’ve gutted it out, and these girls have been resilient. They got up after they’ve been hit down over and over again,” Rockwood said.
This run in the Big 12 playoff should earn BYU a better seed in the NCAA Tournament, possibly even earning a home game at the start of the event.
The NCAA tournament seeding will be announced during the selection show on Monday at 2 p.m. MST.
