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PROVO — It would be easy to point to dynamic forward Ashley Hatch as the key to the rise of No. 4 BYU women’s soccer this season.
Hatch’s role in the offense has been instrumental for the Cougars (7-1-0), who rose to their highest national ranking since 2012. The senior from Gilbert, Arizona has a national-best 10 goals with four assists on the season, having scored in six of the Cougars’ eight matches.
Yet another player is quietly playing standout soccer for BYU, which finishes non-conference play with two home matches beginning Thursday against Denver (3-6-0) at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday against Long Beach State (4-4-1).
Maybe Michele Murphy Vasconcelos wasn’t supposed to be in Provo this year. The former Alta High standout was the Gatorade Utah Girls Soccer Player of the Year in 2012, and enrolled in her first season at BYU nearly five years ago.
But a knee injury ended her sophomore season in just the second match. Surgery and rehabilitation surrendered one year via medical redshirt and postponed her college soccer career by a season.
That year, though, is quickly becoming the best one for the attacking midfielder her teammates, coaches and friends still call “Murph.”
“There’s no question: Murph is playing the best soccer of her career right now,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence, and she’s so good at finding the ball as a true center mid. She can find the ball as a forward, she helps us keep possession, and she also is feeling a lot more comfortable putting her head down and getting to the end line — which creates a lot of pressure against defenses.
“We’ve worked so hard over the past few months on our finishing, and it’s really paying off.”
Vasconcelos has six goals and three assists after Saturday’s 3-1 win at Utah State when she scored and set up a goal a week after claiming West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors.
After a slow start to the season, Vasconcelos has registered six goals in the past five games as the Cougars have put together a six-match unbeaten streak since a 1-0 loss to Nebraska — a match Vasconcelos didn’t play in.
“After watching (the loss to Nebraska), I realized I needed to be better and as a team we need to come out with energy,” Vasconcelos said. “I think that is the biggest thing: bringing the energy for every game, and for the entire game. That game was slow and flat.”
Playing fast and upbeat from the opening whistle, the Cougars have toppled two top 20 teams on the road: then-No. 5 Penn State just four days after the home loss to the Huskers, and then-No. 19 Ohio State on Sept. 12.
Playing with intent has unlocked an offense that averages 2.75 goals per game. But whether she’s playing the goal-scorer or facilitating for her teammates, it’s all equal to Vasconcelos.
“I feel like I’m more of a passer by nature, but my teammates have been giving me such good balls,” she said. “We’re all just setting each other up so well in the box that it’s so easy to finish. This year has been really fun.”
Playing team ball has also helped. After Hatch scored the first five goals of the season, BYU has spread the ball around over the past six games with six total goal-scorers.
In addition to Hatch and Vasconcelos, reigning WCC Player of the Year Nadia Gomes and midfielder Elena Medeiros have two goals apiece.
“A lot of it is just getting used to playing with each other again,” Rockwood said. “Putting everybody together, getting used to that, and they are doing such a great job.
“We continue to build and build and build.”
With the second-best RPI in the nation based on non-conference strength of schedule and results to date, the Cougars hope to build on their own conference success and make an NCAA tournament run for the first time since advancing to the Elite Eight in 2012.
There’s still plenty of soccer left to play between now and then.
“I think we just realized that this is a huge year, and we can accomplish a lot,” Vasconcelos said. “But it’s not going to come easy. We can’t just step on the field like we did against Nebraska. We definitely have to bring it every game. It’s a conscious team effort.”
