Bracha's Late Equalizer Allows Cal Poly to Secure Draw Against BYU

Monday, August 18

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 P.M.

0-0-2, 0-0-0

BYU

1-0-1, 0-0-0

BYU

Cal Poly

Bailey Bracha goal celebration, 081825, BYU

Bracha's Late Equalizer Allows Cal Poly to Secure Draw Against BYU

8/18/2025 11:48:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BOX SCORE

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — In front of nearly 2,000 fans, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team put on a show in its home opener on Monday night, going toe-to-toe with national powerhouse BYU and earning a 2-2 draw.

Junior Annika Smith found the back of the net less than five minutes into the match and redshirt sophomore Bailey Bracha headed home a late equalizer to help the Mustangs secure a result across the Cougars, who are currently receiving votes nationally and have advanced to the NCAA semifinals two of the last four years.

“We put on a show tonight,” head coach Bernardo Silva said after the match. “I think one of the things that we always talk to our team about is just the importance that anytime people come out and watch us play, that they see a team that empties the tank and represents San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly’s excellence … I think we were very good today and absolutely deserved the tying result against a top-level team in BYU.”

It didn’t take long for the Mustangs to send a message to the Cougars that they were in for a fight at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. At 4:16 into the match, senior forward Jessie Halladay intercepted a pass by a BYU defender just outside the 18-yard box and fired a pass over to a wide open Smith, who blasted a shot to the top of the net to give Cal Poly a 1-0 lead. It was Smith’s first goal of the season and the 10th of her career while Halladay notched her eighth career assist on the tally. On Monday, Halladay was also named the season’s first Big West Offensive Player of the Week after burying two goals in Cal Poly’s season-opening 3-3 draw at San Diego.

Less than four minutes after Smith’s tally, the Mustangs nearly made it 2-0 when senior Brennan Cole headed a corner kick from graduate student Madelyn Dougherty off the bottom of the crossbar.

In the 23rd minute, BYU was awarded a penalty kick after a foul was committed by the Mustangs in the box, but Ellie Walbruch missed the attempt wide of the left post to allow Cal Poly to hold onto a 1-0 advantage.

Walbruch made up for that miss 20 minutes later. The junior sent a free kick from the edge of the 18-yard box to the back of the net at 43:17 and then just 39 seconds later scored again to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead at the break.

Play was fairly even in the opening half, but BYU attempted to assert its dominance in the opening stages of the second half. The Cougars earned 11 corner kicks in the final 45 minutes and were on the hunt for a potential game-sealing goal. However, redshirt junior goalkeeper Alyssa Szarlacki stepped up and made several key saves to help keep Cal Poly within striking distance.

The Mustangs never wavered and in the 79th minute that persistence paid off. Sophomore Lauren Collier sent a cross into the box and Bracha rose up and headed a shot over the BYU goalkeeper to level the match at 2-2.

It was Bracha’s second career goal and first since Oct. 15, 2023. The Clovis, Calif. native missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL she suffered in the summer of 2024. Monday’s match was her first at home since Oct. 29, 2023, and her goal sent the entire Cal Poly bench and crowd into a frenzy.

“This game meant a lot to me,” Bracha said afterwards. “To be out here on Spanos again feels great. Every single game that I play in has a different meaning to it now, it’s special. I don’t take any game for granted so having that goal tonight in the home opener meant a lot to me, but of course I couldn’t do it without my team.”

BYU outshot Cal Poly 17-8 in the match and Szarlacki made five saves in her second career match as a Mustang. Smith finished with a team-high four shots.

The reported attendance for the Mustangs’ home opener was 1,927. Silva said the atmosphere was truly one of a kind.

“The energy, the vibe, the environment that we created at Spanos today with our community and our fanbase, it was absolutely incredible,” he said.

Cal Poly (0-0-2) heads to Fresno State at 7 p.m. Thursday to continue its early season nonconference slate before returning to Spanos on Sunday, Aug. 24, to host Pacific at 1 p.m.

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