Walbruch's hat trick rallies BYU women's soccer by Arizona

PROVO — BYU needed a Herculean effort in its return home for the first time in three matches to keep pace for a spot in next month's Big 12 women's soccer tournament in Kansas City.

Ellie Walbruch was happy to do some heavy lifting.

Walbruch scored her first collegiate hat trick as the Cougars held off Arizona 3-2 in front of 3,150 fans Thursday night at South Field.

It's the first hat trick by a BYU player since Mikayla Colohan in 2021 — and the Cougars (8-4-2, 3-3-1 Big 12) needed every single one to bounce back from a 4-2 loss to then-No. 14 Baylor on Friday.

Still, the veteran striker hoisted all the praise on her teammates, who "put me in great positions" before finding the former UCLA transfer who missed last season with an ACL injury.

"I had the confidence, playing really well the last few games but haven't been getting the results," said Walbruch, who now has a team-high nine goals with one assist in 14 matches. "I'm just happy to be able to put the goals in the back of the net, and get the 3 points tonight."

The win helps BYU keep pace for a spot in the eight-team Big 12 women's soccer tournament, held Nov. 3-8 in Fort Worth and Waco, Texas. With the 3 points, the Cougars move into a tie for seventh at 10 points in league play, and just 2 points behind sixth-place UCF.

TCU (11-2-1, 5-1-1 Big 12) leads the conference with four games remaining, tied with Colorado — the Cougars' next opponent Monday after improving to 11-2-2 and 5-1-1 in league play following a 2-1 win at Utah.

Mika Krommenhoek made her return from injury, and the sophomore from Maple Mountain showed what BYU Has been missing since she was subbed off just nine minutes into a 3-0 win over Cincinnati back on Sept. 27.

Krommenhoek wasted little time in her first appearance in three matches, finding Walbruch for the opening goal in the 17th minute to put the Cougars up, 1-0.

"Micah covers so much ground for us, both on attack and on defense," said associate head coach Brent Anderson, himself a last-minute injury substitute for head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We've missed that. She's got this engine that just keeps going and going, and athleticism to match it. We have missed that, and her ability to get her head up and be composed to slot balls in like that is so good."

Walbruch doubled the advantage five minutes later, finishing a perfect pass from Mackenzee Vance in the 22nd minute to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.

The Wildcats out-shot BYU 7-6 before the break, but BYU goalkeeper Paiton Collins made two saves to keep the first-half clean sheet.

It didn't last long.

Jessica Bedolla pulled one back in the 50th minute for Arizona (7-8, 2-5 Big 12), and Lily Boydstun equalized 13 seconds after the hour mark.

But Walbruch wasn't done.

Afton Perry threaded the needle to Presley Freeman at the end line in the 76th minute, and the sophomore from Atlanta struck a cross to Walbruch in the box that ended with the Highland native's first collegiate hat trick.

"Obviously, we don't like to give up those two goals, especially because we didn't think we gave them a lot of chances," Walbruch said. "We don't want to do that again. But Presley made a great cross from down the line, a second for me in the last three games, and she just put it on a platter for me to put away."

BYU hosts the Buffs in the penultimate home match of the regular season Monday at 6 p.m. MDT.

Related topics