Junior Caroline Kelly scored the 20th goal of her career in SLU’s 2023 season opener against BYU. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Saint Louis (0-1) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Brigham Young (1-0) | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Scoring Summary
| Time | Team | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 01:37 |  | Bella Folino (1) Unassisted. |
| 09:13 | | Olivia Katoa (1) Assisted By: Jamie Shepherd , Ellie Boren. |
| 13:20 |  | Caroline Kelly (1) Unassisted. |
| 42:55 | | Erin Bailey (1) Assisted By: Kendell Petersen. |
| 85:42 | | Emily Gaebe (1) Assisted By: Izzy Luebbert. |
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
PROVO, UT — A matchup between two nationally-ranked Top 25 teams proved to be an intense battle for the SLU Billikens and BYU Cougars, Thursday night at South Field.
The No. 21-ranked Billikens battled hard, but the No. 13 host Cougars got three first half goals and made that stand in what proved to be a 3-2 win in the season opener for both teams.
“It was a huge win for us against a very good team that leads the country in scoring,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We certainly had our ups and downs throughout the game. We had some good composure and bad composure, but that’s why we play a team like this from the beginning – so we have lots to learn from. We’re going to learn how to close out games a lot better, but we held on to the win, and that’s most important.”
BYU grabbed a quick 2-0 lead by scoring twice in the first 14 minutes. That allowed the Cougars to control the pace and momentum through much of the night.
But SLU got back into the game in the 14th minute, when senior midfielder Caroline Kelly stole an errant pass and lifted a shot from outside the box, over the BYU goalkeeper’s head to make it 2-1.
The goal was the 20th of Kelly’s SLU career, which now puts her 10th all-time in Saint Louis University women’s soccer scoring.
BYU regained its two-goal lead just before halftime, when it scored on a nifty passing play that beat the SLU defense. The Cougars outshot the Billikens 16-6 in the first half.
The second half was much more even, with SLU outshooting BYU 10-9.
And with those shots, the Billikens pulled to within 3-2 on a goal by junior Emily Gaebe in the 86th minute. She received a terrific lead pass from sophomore Izzy Luebbert and was able to bury a shot into the left corner of the BYU net to make the game close again.
The assist was the sophomore Luebbert’s first point as a collegiate player.
Unfortunately, SLU wasn’t able to generate any other scoring chances in the final two minutes, so BYU was able to hold on for the win.
SLU will be back in action on Sunday, when it travels to Logan, Utah, to play Utah State.