Ellie Walbruch and Lucy Kesler Are Cousins From Utah County. In 2025 Both Became All-Americans

Two cousins from Utah County were named United Soccer Coaches All-Americans for BYU women's soccer in 2025. Ellie Walbruch, a forward from Highland, was named to the second team, and Lucy Kesler, a midfielder from American Fork, to the third team, BYU announced on Dec. 5, 2025.

A month earlier both had a hand in the goal that won BYU its first Big 12 Tournament title. Kesler started the move with a one-touch pass to freshman Mia Goettsche, who found Walbruch for a shot from about 30 yards that came down off the crossbar, the only goal of a 1-0 win over Kansas in the final, BYU reported. BYU was the first No. 8 seed to win the tournament.

"It's special not only to represent BYU, but also the Freeze family," Walbruch told KSL.

Cousins in the same neighborhood

Both BYU biographies note the relationship. KSL explained it in November 2025: their mothers are sisters, Emily (Freeze) Walbruch and Cami (Freeze) Kesler, daughters of Bill Freeze, and the families live in the same Highland neighborhood. Kesler's roster hometown is American Fork, where she went to high school.

Walbruch describes her cousin's role in the midfield simply. "I call her a firefighter, because she's always extinguishing in the midfield," she told KSL.

Both came up through the Utah club La Roca, by their BYU biographies. Walbruch captained La Roca from 2016 to 2021 and won a state title in 2020. Kesler was the 2024 ECNL Northwest Conference Player of the Year and an ECNL All-American with La Roca, and graduated from American Fork High School in three years.

Walbruch: UCLA, an ACL and 16 goals

Walbruch started her college career at UCLA, where her BYU biography says she played 13 games as a freshman on the Bruins' 2022 national championship team. She transferred to BYU, made the All-Big 12 second team in 2023, and then missed the 2024 season with an ACL injury, BYU reported.

She came back in 2025 with 16 goals, leading BYU in goals, shots (91) and shots on goal (41), BYU reported. She became one of only four players in program history to score in five or more consecutive matches, scored BYU's first hat trick since 2021 against Arizona on Oct. 16, and was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week in October.

At the Big 12 Tournament she scored five goals in three games, which BYU said made her the first player to score five goals in the tournament since 1997, and she was named its Most Outstanding Offensive Player. She was also named to the All-Big 12 first team and the All-Midwest Region first team.

"I think I'm just playing free," she said during the run. "When I play free, I'm at my best."

Kesler watched it build. "It's been awesome to watch Ellie progressively get back into her game throughout the season," she told KSL.

Kesler: an All-American as a sophomore

Kesler started 22 games in 2025, playing 1,681 minutes, and scored her first career brace in a 4-1 win at Oklahoma State on Oct. 6, BYU's results show. She had three assists, including one shared with Mia Goettsche on Walbruch's winner in the Big 12 final.

In October 2025 she was called up to a U.S. Under-20 women's national team training camp, the only player from a Big 12 school invited, BYU said. She also made the All-Big 12 first team, the Big 12 All-Tournament team and the All-Midwest Region first team, after making the Big 12 All-Freshman team in 2024.

The Big 12 title sent BYU to the NCAA tournament, the program's 26th appearance in 31 years, as KSL put it in a headline on the cousins' season.

The 2026 season

Both made the preseason All-Big 12 team and the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list in August, two of nine Big 12 players on the list, BYU reported. TopDrawerSoccer's preseason top 100 ranked Walbruch 18th and Kesler 92nd, and BYU named Walbruch a captain for a second year.

Kesler has started all 17 of BYU's matches through Oct. 30, with three assists, by BYU's statistics, including the assist on Afton Perry's header in a 2-1 win over Kansas State on Oct. 2. Walbruch has five starts this season.

BYU was 11-3-3 and 7-1-2 in the Big 12 after a 3-1 win over Utah on Oct. 30, BYU reported. It is coach Jennifer Rockwood's final season; she announced in June that she would retire after it. The regular season ends against Arizona State on Nov. 5, and the Big 12 Tournament is at Mansfield, Texas, on Nov. 9, 11 and 14. The NCAA women's College Cup is Dec. 10 and 13 in Cary, North Carolina, the NCAA says.

More on the season is on the BYU women's soccer team page.

Key facts:

• Athletes: Ellie Walbruch (forward, senior) and Lucy Kesler (midfielder, junior), BYU women's soccer
• Hometowns: Highland and American Fork, Utah; cousins through their mothers, per KSL
• 2025 All-Americans: Walbruch second team, Kesler third team (United Soccer Coaches)
• Big 12 title: Kesler and Mia Goettsche assisted Walbruch's winner in the 1-0 final against Kansas, BYU's first Big 12 Tournament title
• Walbruch 2025: 16 goals; Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player
• Kesler: U.S. U-20 national team training camp, October 2025
• 2025 team: Big 12 Tournament champion; the program's 26th NCAA tournament in 31 years, per KSL
• 2026: both on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list; Big 12 Tournament Nov. 9-14