PROVO, Utah — No. 19 BYU women's soccer shut out No. 4 UCLA, 1-0 at South Field on a lone goal from Junior Ellie Walbruch on Saturday night.
"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."
UCLA out-shot BYU 19 to 11, marking BYU's first game of the season being outshot. BYU sophomore goalkeeper Paiton Collins recorded three saves, making this the first shutout of her career. BYU is now 4-4-1 all-time in its series against the Bruins.
First Half
Both teams came out aggressive. After trading shots on the goal early, BYU scored its only goal in the 14th minute as Ellie 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.
In an aggressive first half, two yellow cards were assessed, one to a player on each team.
Second Half
UCLA came out quick 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.
Up Next
BYU hosts the Auburn Tigers at South Field on Friday August 29th at 7 p.m. MT, with streaming on ESPN+.