Three Utah Soccer Titles in One Day: BYU, Utah State and Weber State Win Conference Crowns

Three Utah women's soccer programs won conference regular-season championships on Thursday, Nov. 5. At 1 p.m. in Ogden, Weber State beat Idaho State 9-1 at Wildcat Soccer Field to clinch the Big Sky title. That night in Logan, Utah State beat San Diego State 2-0 at Chuck & Gloria Bell Field to win the Pac-12 regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 Championship it will host next week. In Provo, BYU beat Arizona State 1-0 at South Field for its first Big 12 regular-season title, in head coach Jennifer Rockwood's final regular-season match.

A fourth result settled the Big Sky bracket. Utah Tech won 2-0 at Southern Utah in Cedar City, clinching the No. 5 seed and ending the Thunderbirds' season.

Utah State 2, San Diego State 0: a Pac-12 title in year one

Utah State, ranked No. 22 in that week's United Soccer Coaches poll, finished conference play 6-1-1 and is 13-3-3 overall. It was the Aggies' first season in the Pac-12, and the title is the program's fifth conference regular-season championship and its first since the 2012 WAC crown, according to Utah State Athletics.

It was also Senior Night, and a senior decided it. The first half finished scoreless, with Utah State holding a 7-5 edge in shots. Seventy seconds after the restart, senior forward Kate Christian put the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled offside after a video review.

Christian did not wait long for another. At 67:44, she scored off the far post from a Capriel Winder pass. It was her first goal of the season and the game-winner, from the same player who scored the winning goal as a freshman in Utah State's 2023 Mountain West Tournament championship match against Colorado State. Christian finished with a team-best six shots.

The second goal came from a set piece. At 81:58, junior midfielder Kei Yoneda finished a move built by Summer Diamond and Summer Sofonia for her fifth goal of the season.

After the break, Utah State out-shot San Diego State 12-3 and did not allow a shot on goal in the final 45 minutes. The Aggies finished ahead 19-8 in shots and 9-2 in shots on goal.

Ivy Nystrom ties the program clean-sheet record

Sophomore goalkeeper Ivy Nystrom earned her 11th clean sheet of the season, matching Utah State's single-season record held by Cora Brendle (2024) and Molli Merrill (2011). It was the team's 12th shutout of the year.

BYU 1, Arizona State 0: a first Big 12 title in Rockwood's last regular season

BYU won its first Big 12 regular-season title with a 1-0 win over Arizona State at South Field, finishing the regular season 12-3-3 and 8-1-2 in the Big 12, according to BYU Athletics. It was the final regular-season match of Jennifer Rockwood's career. Before kickoff, BYU recognized her 32 seasons as the only head coach in program history, with more than 480 career wins, and BYU Athletics announced a $500,000 donor-funded Jennifer Rockwood Endowed Soccer Scholarship Fund the same day. Her teams have won a conference title in all four conferences BYU women's soccer has played in.

The winner came from a set piece. After an Arizona State player was shown a yellow card, senior Bella Woods struck the free kick from 25 yards out in the 68th minute, and it went in off the left post. It was her third goal of the season, and all three have come on set pieces. Mia Goettsche tapped in a cross in the 73rd minute, but the goal was ruled offside.

BYU out-shot Arizona State 12-2 in a scoreless first half and 21-7 over the match. Goalkeepers Chelsea Peterson and Paiton Collins combined for three saves, including a diving stop by Collins in the 70th minute. It was also Senior Night for Woods, Peterson, Ella Rustand-Ford, Avery Frischknecht, Emma Neff, Ellie Walbruch and Mattyn Summers-Oviatt.

"This is such a special group of girls, to accomplish what they've accomplished," Rockwood said in BYU's recap. For the whole 2026 season, see BYU's Big 12 race in Rockwood's final year.

Weber State 9, Idaho State 1: the Big Sky crown in Ogden

Weber State finished the regular season 11-6-2 and 7-1-1 in the Big Sky with four straight wins. The Wildcats entered the day with 19 points to Northern Colorado's 17, per the Big Sky's weekly preview, and the final conference table has them on 22 points, two clear of Northern Colorado.

Idaho State's equalizer stood for 92 seconds. Oakley Anderson scored at 16:09 from a Lily Blum assist, Idaho State's Samantha Fenske converted a penalty kick at 18:43, and Simone Packer restored the lead at 20:15. Weber State led 2-1 at halftime, then scored seven times after the break:

• 47:32: Lily Blum, unassisted
• 51:34: Blum, assisted by Anderson
• 58:04: Packer, assisted by Blum
• 58:40: Anderson, assisted by Sayler Schlosser
• 63:54: Anderson, assisted by Blum, for her hat trick
• 64:15: Cici Garcia, assisted by Bonnie Buswell and Schlosser
• 83:08: Garcia, unassisted

Blum had two goals and three assists, a hand in five of the nine goals. Anderson added an assist to her hat trick, and Packer and Garcia scored twice each. Weber State out-shot Idaho State 21-9, put 12 shots on goal to Idaho State's two, took all 10 of the match's corners and recorded seven assists on its nine goals. Lauren Butorac played the first 65 minutes in goal and made one save before Lily Loyet finished the match.

"I'm just so happy for the girls," head coach Kyle Christensen said in Weber State's recap. "I can see what it means to them."

The title completes a season that began with expectations. Weber State was picked first in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll with five first-place votes and 74 points, and Isabella Sackett, Blum, Anderson and Butorac were preseason all-conference picks. In the final week, Packer was named Big Sky Co-Offensive Player of the Week, shared with Idaho's Tori Peters, and Sackett was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season.

Utah Tech 2, Southern Utah 0: a seed clinched in Cedar City

Utah Tech arrived at Thunderbird Soccer Field already in the Big Sky tournament and needing a win or a draw to lock up the No. 5 seed, according to its recap. A crowd of 215 watched the Trailblazers get the win.

At 27:33, Ella Rusick crossed into the box and Lataya Brost headed it in. It was Brost's seventh goal of the season, tying her with Rusick for the team lead. Jocelyn Wright doubled the lead unassisted at 62:10 after a Southern Utah turnover in its own end, her fifth goal per the box score.

Emma McIff played all 90 minutes and made three saves for the shutout. None of Southern Utah's four first-half shots were on target, and Utah Tech's recap counted a sixth consecutive first-half shutout with McIff in net. Utah Tech finished 8-6-4 and 4-2-3, level on 15 points with Northern Arizona and Idaho, and took the No. 5 seed.

Southern Utah matched Utah Tech's 14 shots and took 10 of them after halftime. Freshman goalkeeper Tatum Trout made seven saves, finishing her first season with 88 saves after starting all 18 matches. Gracen Blieschke led the Thunderbirds with five shots, two on goal. Junior defender Rylan Tebbs made her 40th career start, tying Rachael Hunt (2020-22) for the most by a Cedar City native, and extended her own Cedar City record to 48 appearances. Seniors Nao Yasuda and Kayleigh Acree played their final match.

The loss left Southern Utah 5-10-3 and 2-5-2, eighth of 10 in the Big Sky and out of the six-team tournament. In Steven Lindquist's first season as head coach, the Thunderbirds scored 30 goals, second-most in program history behind 2022's 31 and more than double 2025's 14, and allowed 26, the fewest since 2022, according to Southern Utah's recap. Ashlyn O'Malley led the team with seven goals and 16 points.

What is next for BYU, Utah State, Weber State and Utah Tech

BYU enters the Big 12 Soccer Tournament as the No. 1 seed and plays West Virginia in the first round on Monday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. MT at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium in Mansfield, Texas, streaming on ESPN+, per BYU's recap.

Utah State hosts the inaugural Pac-12 Championship at Bell Field. The top-seeded Aggies play No. 4 Gonzaga in the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. MT, and the final is set for Saturday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m. MT at Bell Field, per Utah State's schedule. The Aggies are chasing a fourth straight conference tournament championship.

The 2026 Big Sky Soccer Championship runs Nov. 11, 13 and 15 at South Campus Stadium in Missoula, Montana, hosted by Montana. No. 5 Utah Tech plays No. 4 Idaho in a quarterfinal on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 1:30 p.m. MT. No. 1 Weber State plays the winner of that match in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 13, at 1:30 p.m., so a Utah Tech win sets up an all-Utah semifinal. The championship match is Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m., and the champion receives the Big Sky's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Every match streams on ESPN+.

Key facts:

• Date: Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026
• Pac-12: Utah State 2, San Diego State 0 at Chuck & Gloria Bell Field, Logan; Utah State 13-3-3, 6-1-1, regular-season champion and No. 1 seed in its first Pac-12 season
• Utah State scorers: Kate Christian 67:44 (assist Capriel Winder), Kei Yoneda 81:58 (assists Summer Sofonia, Summer Diamond)
• Record tied: Ivy Nystrom's 11th clean sheet matched Utah State's single-season record
• Big 12: BYU 1, Arizona State 0 at South Field, Provo; BYU 12-3-3, 8-1-2, first Big 12 regular-season title and No. 1 seed, in Jennifer Rockwood's final regular-season match
• BYU scorer: Bella Woods, free kick from 25 yards in the 68th minute, her third goal of the season
• Big Sky: Weber State 9, Idaho State 1 at Wildcat Soccer Field, Ogden; Weber State 11-6-2, 7-1-1, regular-season champion and No. 1 seed
• Weber State leaders: Oakley Anderson hat trick and an assist; Lily Blum two goals, three assists; Simone Packer and Cici Garcia two goals each
• Cedar City: Utah Tech 2, Southern Utah 0; Lataya Brost and Jocelyn Wright scored, Emma McIff made three saves; Utah Tech 8-6-4, 4-2-3, No. 5 seed
• Southern Utah: season ends at 5-10-3, 2-5-2; Tatum Trout seven saves, 88 for the season
• Next: BYU vs West Virginia, Nov. 9, Mansfield, Texas; Utah State vs Gonzaga, Nov. 11, Logan; Utah Tech vs Idaho, Nov. 11, Missoula; Weber State semifinal, Nov. 13, Missoula