Eva Chenn, a 5-foot-10 goalkeeper from Alpine has a background and story unlike most, especially compared to her new teammates.
When previous starting goalkeeper, Lynette Hernaez unexpectedly announced her retirement, Chenn came out of a retirement of her own and is now a member of the BYU women’s soccer team.
Chenn grew up with sports in her veins with her father being Marc Chenn, a star high jumper at BYU from 1997-2000, and he still holds two different records 25 years later. He also competed at the Olympic trials, even though he was originally a walk-on at the collegiate level.
Chenn finds herself in similar shoes to her father.
Chenn grew up playing soccer, basketball and running track. She competed at Lone Peak High School in those respective sports. She worked very hard and ultimately her dream was to compete in soccer at BYU.
That dream was initially not in the cards and she decided she was going to focus her efforts on the track. It was not until her junior year, where she began competing in the events for the Heptathalon. She found a new love in this sport and a year later, committed to BYU as a walk-on.
Her freshman year at BYU in 2022 was a “great experience [but] definitely hard. Track is not an easy sport, but it taught me how to work hard, and important life lessons for my mission,” Chenn said.
After her first year with the Cougars, Chenn stepped away and decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. She spent 18 months away in the Spain, Madrid South Mission.
While on her mission, she received the news that there would not be a spot for her anymore on the track team upon her return. She was devastated, and decided it was time to move on.
She spent the next year being a typical BYU student but had reached out to the soccer coaches early in the summer of 2025, asking if there were any opportunities to play or even just practice with the team.
The answer was no, but that all changed when Hernaez announced her retirement just two days before fall camp started in Aug. of 2025. Chenn got the call that had been her lifelong dream.
“Originally I was shocked and excited … I never thought it would happen, but when he reached out, it was like a ‘wow’ moment, where you’re like ‘oh my gosh,’ everything I have ever wanted is right here,” said Chenn.
Chenn began training with the team about a week later and is fulfilling her role to the best of her ability. She hopes to “contribute good energy to the team,” while adding, “A rising tide lifts all ships, right?”
Although Chenn is not between the pipes on a game-to-game basis, her energy she brings to the team and to training everyday is infectious and really does elevate the team.
“I feel like as I push myself to get better and to … constantly be improving, it will help my other teammates as well," she said.