Peterson's debut in goal helps BYU soccer preserve 2-2 draw with No. 21 Colorado

PROVO — BYU women's soccer could've used a win in the penultimate home game of the Cougars' regular season Monday night.

Thanks to a backup goalkeeper's debut in blue, the Cougars will settled for a draw.

Ellie Walbruch scored her fourth goal in three matches, and Mia Goettsche added a banger to help BYU women's soccer salvage a 2-2 draw with No. 21 Colorado at South Field.

Chelsea Peterson came off the bench in goal for BYU (8-4-3, 3-3-2 Big 12), notching two saves in the final 29 minutes without conceding a goal.

"We're really fortunate; we've got a great goalkeeper unit," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said of Peterson, a transfer from Utah. "Sarah Mathis is someone we're trying to redshirt at this point in the season, so Chelsea got the nod. She's done really well in practice, and she knew she'd probably get the call if anything happened to Paiton."

Jordan Nytes made seven saves for Colorado (11-2-3, 5-1-2 Big 12) to keep the Cougars at bay and preserve a point on the road.

Of course, on a night when BYU needed a full 3 points against the favored Buffaloes to try to secure a top-eight finish and a berth in the Big 12 soccer tournament with three matches left (and just one at home), the 1-point draw leaves the Cougars sweating for a postseason bid.

BYU's 11 points are just 2 ahead of ninth-place Houston, with Arizona State, Kansas State and Utah all within a game for a chance at the eight-team conference tournament held Nov. 3-8 in Fort Worth and Waco, Texas.

As of this game, there was plenty of scoring — if only early, when the two sides combined for four goals in a 12-minute span in the first half.

Walbruch opened the scoring in the 16th minute, finishing her 10th goal of the year on an assistant from newly recovered Mika Krommenhoek in back-to-back games as the Cougars started fast.

Lucy Kesler added a second assist a day after the sophomore was one of two Utah college players named to the United States' Under-20 women's national team training camp Oct. 22-30 in Kansas City.

Colorado's Faith Leyba equalized with her first goal of the year in the 23rd minute, and her twin sister Hope gave the Buffaloes a 2-1 lead 39 seconds later of game time.

But Goettsche found her mark in the 28th minute, taking a through ball from Camryn Jorgensen before turning on the ball, lofting a half volley up, and slamming the ball inside the far post with her left foot en route to a 2-2 halftime stalemate.

After taking a knock to the inside of her leg, starter Paiton Collins was forced off in the 61st minute. The sophomore goalkeeper had four saves with her two goals conceded before making way for Peterson.

The former Utah goalkeeper made her first appearance in a competitive match in nearly four years, when she was at the University of Utah.

The Orem native started 19 games in goal for the Utes in 2021, tallying the fourth-most saves in program history against then-No. 12 Stanford, and finishing the season with 77 saves in 1,778 minutes.

The 5-foot-7 net protector transferred to Utah Valley at the end of the 2021 campaign, when she had three years of eligibility. Peterson also served an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manchester, England, before transferring to BYU.

How new was Peterson to the roster? She initially didn't plan on playing soccer at BYU, but joined the team along with former Lone Peak goalkeeper Eva Chenn when the Cougars opened the season with just two keepers.

To date, her profile in the BYU media guide doesn't have a photo attached to it.

But she's officially capped with a couple of critical second-half saves to preserve the draw.

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