Death, taxes and Chelsea Peterson.
Sophie Sivulich scored a goal, and Peterson made two first-half saves before returning for a penalty shootout to help No. 13 BYU women’s soccer survive West Virginia, 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 soccer tournament Monday afternoon in Mansfield, Texas.
It’s the fourth penalty-shootout clincher for Peterson, the senior from Orem who transferred to BYU after posting a .754 save percentage at Utah and serving an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manchester, England.
Sivulich opened the scoring in the 14th minute, taking a pass from Lucy Kesler deep in midfield before driving toward goal and uncorking a wide-open, left-footed low rip to break the deadlock with her third goal of the season.
The sophomore from South Weber was initially awarded a penalty kick for a foul in the box in the 50th minute, too.
But the call was reversed on video review moments later, and second-half substitute Paiton Collins made two saves in goal.
But Maya Leoni whipped in a free kick from close to 30 yards out with nine seconds remaining to equalize and force extra time at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium.
Sophia Nickel nearly had the gamewinner for the Mountaineers in the seventh minute of extra time. But the junior Kansas transfer from Golden, Colorado, was ruled offside.
Both teams made a change in goal ahead of the penalty-kick shootout, with BYU bringing back starter Peterson and West Virginia turning to Campbell Wolff, the 6-foot-2 redshirt junior from Alexandria, Virginia, by way of Ole Miss.
Bella Woods and Mika Krommenhoek each converted from the spot, and Peterson saved the first take she faced before Mattyn Summers-Oviatt used power to carom one off Wolff’s fingertips to give the Cougars a 3-1 advantage.
Afton Perry calmly placed her penalty in the lower left corner, and an energetic Peterson celebrated as Abbey Olexa pushed West Virginia’s final penalty over the crossbar to help the Cougars advance through the shootout.
BYU, which clinched its first Big 12 regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a dramatic 1-0 win over Arizona State in the regular-season finale, will open the Big 12 tournament semifinals Wednesday against fourth-seeded Colorado.
The Buffaloes defeated No. 5 Kansas, 2-1 in Monday’s first quarterfinal.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
