PROVO, Utah - No. 14 BYU extended its win streak to three games with a 2-1 victory over Colorado State Thursday night. It was the second straight game with a sold-out student section at South Field.
Goals from senior Mattyn Summers-Oviatt and junior Emma Hamberlin helped the Cougars outlast the Rams in the first-ever meeting between the programs. It was an emotional and aggressive match, with four total cards awarded, one to BYU and three to Colorado State.
"Wins just get bigger and bigger and more and more important," head coach Jennifer Rockwood said after the match. "In the second half we created good opportunities, and our bench keeps coming through for us and putting some good goals in."
Summers-Oviatt’s goal, her second of the season, came at the end of the first half of the match to give BYU its first halftime lead of the 2026 season.
An early second-half goal was called offside, but the Cougars got it back just minutes later off the boot of Hamberlin. It was Hamberlin’s third of the season, a team high.
Colorado State got one back in the 57th minute to bring the game back within one, but BYU controlled possession the rest of the game and kept the pressure on until the final whistle.
After only managing five shots in the first half, BYU finished the game with 19, outshooting its opponent for the fifth time in as many games this season.
First Half
The game started off quiet on both ends, as the first ten minutes only yielded two shots, one for each squad.
BYU threatened in the 15th minute, when a shot off of the foot of sophomore Afton Perry was deflected just outside of the net. The Cougars were then awarded back-to-back corner kicks, but were unable to capitalize and the game remained tied, 0-0.
Colorado State lodged back-to-back shots on a rattled Cougar team in the 21st minute after Cougar senior Ellie Walbruch left the pitch with an injury. An emotional Cougar team did enough to keep them off of the board, and the game remained scoreless.
The Rams controlled the tempo and the ball throughout the next 15 minutes, logging three more shots but coming up empty. A foul on Summers-Oviatt set up a promising free kick opportunity, but BYU keeper Chelsea Peterson secured the ball to dull the threat.
The Cougars broke through in the 39th minute of the contest, when a cross from freshman Kate Fuller found Summers-Oviatt at the right post. Her shot fired into the back of the net on the left side, giving BYU a 1-0 lead.
Despite being outshot 8-5, the Cougars entered the break with their first halftime lead of the season.
Second Half
The Cougars opened the second half powerfully, as they drove a ball into the box and then into the back of the net for what appeared to be their second of the game before it was called back for offside.
BYU wasted no time getting the goal back, when a Presley Freeman pass from the left side found Hamberlin in the middle of the box for the goal, extending the Cougars’ lead to 2-0.
The refocused Cougars kept the pressure on, logging two more shots in the next four minutes of the contest, but Colorado State kept the deficit at two.
Colorado State struck next in the 57th minute, when a corner kick bounced around in the box before finding the back of the net. For the Cougars, it was the first goal surrendered in three games since their Aug. 19 matchup against Wisconsin.
BYU bounced back quickly, logging six more shots in the ensuing 15 minutes of play and controlling possession.
Freshman Anna Neff got a head on a corner in the 77th minute, lodging BYU’s 15th shot of the game, but the ball went wide of the right post to keep it a one-score game.
Keeping their foot on the gas, BYU logged three more shots off of two corners in the 82nd and 83rd minutes of the match. A Lucy Kessler try from the top of the box went just wide of the right post as the Cougars narrowly missed their first three-goal game of the season.
BYU managed to keep the ball off of its half of the pitch for most of the rest of the match, defending South Field to stay unbeaten at home on the year.
Up Next
The Cougars close their four-game home stretch on Saturday when the Oklahoma Sooners come to town. The game kicks off at 2 p.m. MDT, with the game broadcast available on ESPN+.