No. 1 BYU Battles To Hard Fought Draw In First Big 12 Match

ScoreLive September 15, 2023 0

PROVO, Utah – The first-ever Big 12 conference game for any sport took place on the pitch featuring No. 1 BYU soccer.

BYU hosted TCU, which received votes in the most recent Top 25 poll, in front of a crowd of 5,416 fans. It was the second consecutive night BYU had a crowd of 5,000+ fans for a women’s sporting event on campus. Last night was a record for attendance at a women’s volleyball game against Utah.

Hard fought draw in Provo pic.twitter.com/syi0NlXjmY
— BYU Women’s Soccer (@byusoccer_w) September 15, 2023

The standing-room-only crowd probably expected a runaway victory, as BYU had shown through its first seven matches, jumping out to a 7-0 record. But the grind of Big 12 play was on display in the opening night.

No. 1 BYU Soccer hosts TCU to a draw

BYU trailed for the first time this season. TCU was thinking upset all night and they nearly pulled it off.

BYU was down 2-0 after 26 minutes of action. TCU’s Gracie Brian and Seven Castain scored goals to put the Horned Frogs out in front early. BYU’s high-powered attack began to wake up with a Rachel McCarthy goal off an assist from Ellie Walbruch in the 36th minute.

The Cougars went into the halftime locker room down 2-1.

BYU tied up the match on an Allie Fryer goal from an assist by captain Olivia Katoa in the 54th minute. At the moment, the momentum was swinging in favor of BYU. On the night, BYU finished with 12 shots on goal to TCU’s four.

Despite the limited shots on goal, TCU capitalized on their few opportunities. They retook the lead in the 61st minute with another goal from Seven Castain. Castain, a native of Draper, Utah, at the Waterford Academy, was on the Big 12 All-Freshman team a season ago.

TCU’s three goals are their highest-scoring output to date this season.

On the ropes, staring down defeat for the first time this season, BYU netted the equalizer in the 77th minute on a goal from Erin Bailey. Ellie Walbruch had her second assist on the night.

BYU had two more shots on goal from stars Brecken Mozingo and Katoa in the final 13 minutes of action but couldn’t put it through. The game ended in a 3-3 draw, leaving BYU at 7-0-1 on the season.

They open up Big 12 play with a 0-0-1 record. TCU is now 3-3-2 overall this season.

What’s next for BYU

BYU will step out of conference action one last time when they travel to Logan to face in-state rival Utah State at 3 p.m. The next Big 12 match is Thursday, September 21 at Baylor.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.