Utah State clinches NCAA Tournament berth with (another) Mountain West title
Kaylie Chambers scored two goals, and Tess Werts added two assists as the 25th-ranked Aggies topped Boise State, 2-1 in the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament.
For the second time in as many seasons, Utah State women’s soccer are headed to the NCAA Tournament with a title.
Kaylie Chambers scored two goals, and Tess Werts added two assists as the 25th-ranked Aggies topped Boise State, 2-1 in the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament at the SDSU SportsDeck in San Diego.
Boise State’s Jillian Anderson also scored before Chambers’ second goal to win it for Utah State, which improved to 18-1-4 on the season.
“If I was any better right now, I’d be twins,” Utah State coach Manny Martins told the Mountain West Network after the match.
“When we first got here, Kaylie was in the second class that we recruited — and we knew that she was a winner,” Martins added of the junior forward from Arvada, Colorado. “She’s a winner, she’s a champion, and we knew that she could do this. She’s been selfless all season, she’s worked really hard, put everybody else in positions to score — and today, she was the hero. And very deserving; I’m not surprised at all.”
Chambers, Alex Day, Ellie Hendrix and Addy Weichers were each named to the Mountain West all-tournament team.
With the win, the Aggies guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament after a historic season for the program’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance all-time (2011, 2012, 2023).
The full field and bracket will be announced Monday at 2 p.m. MT via live stream on NCAA.org.
Utah State is currently projected to be a No. 5 seed by Chris Henderson at All White Kit, which covers college and women’s soccer. That includes a projection of hosting West Coast Conference champion Santa Clara in a regional that would face the winner of fourth-seeded Penn State and America East champion Maine.
BYU is also projected in Henderson’s final mock bracket, earning a No. 7 seed against Cal in the first round. The winner would face the winner of second-seeded UCLA, which beat BYU 1-0 back in August, and Big West champ UC Santa Barbara.
The Cougars (9-6-5) had a six-match unbeaten streak snapped in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament by No. 1 seeded TCU.
First-round matches are scheduled to be played Nov. 15-17.