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PROVO — Three weeks into the 2023 regular season, the BYU women's soccer team is making history and taking names.
After beating the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in program history, the Cougars assumed the top spot in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, released Tuesday, for the first time in program history.
The program's previous high was No. 2, attained following the 2021 NCAA College Cup championship match, which the Cougars lost on penalty kicks to Florida State.
BYU received all eight first-place votes for 200 total points. Stanford was second with 187 points, followed by North Carolina (182), UCLA (175) and Florida State (170). The Cougars were also up to No. 3 nationally in the TopDrawerSoccer Division I top 25 (behind Florida State and Stanford), as well as No. 2 (behind Stanford) in the NCAA's power rankings.
The Cougars (6-0) — the only unbeaten, untied team in Division I women's soccer — moved up six spots from No. 7 in the poll, supplanting former No. 1 UCLA after a 3-1 win over the Bruins Thursday night in front of 5,209 fans at South Field with goals from UCLA transfer Ellie Walbruch, Rachel McCarthy and Erin Bailey — all off the bench.
The Big 12 preseason favorites followed up the win with a 6-1 victory over crosstown rival Utah Valley featuring a career-first brace from substitute Erin Bailey in front of a UVU-record crowd of 4,742 fans in Orem.
Senior center back Laveni Vaka earned a spot on the TopDrawerSoccer national team of the week for her performance in both wins.
The week marked a significant milestone in the career of head coach Jennifer Rockwood, the only head coach in the program's Division I history with a record of 436-126-54 in 28 years at the helm. But never had she beaten the No. 1 team in the country, nor attained that title herself, despite four previous tries against the top brass.
Until now.
"It's one of the biggest wins; I don't think we've ever beaten the No. 1 team in the country," Rockwood said after the win over UCLA. "That's a huge win, a career win for these seniors. But we also know that it's just a game that is preparing us for where we want to be at the end of the season. it should build us some confidence, knowing that we can go out there and compete against some of the best teams and best players in the country."
Two other Big 12 teams were ranked in the latest top 25: No. 17 Texas (3-1) and No. 25 TCU (1-2). Former BYU assistant coach Chris Watkins also led Gonzaga to a program-best No. 23 national ranking.
BYU travels north Saturday to face arch rival Utah at Ute Field before opening Big 12 play next Thursday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. MDT against TCU. Kickoff this weekend is scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT on the Pac-12 Network.
