LOGAN, Utah - A year after handing BYU their lone home loss of the year, Utah State soccer also seemed doomed to suffer their first home loss of the season at the hands of the Cougars. 

"We beat them last year so we knew they were coming for our throats," junior Whitney Lopez said. "We knew we were in for something. We worked hard. We worked on our press and we were just prepared."

That preparation paid off in the final minutes of the match. Lopez got on the end of a cross from senior Kelsey Salvesen-Harmer to head in the equalizing goal in the 83rd minute as Utah State soccer drew with No. 25-ranked BYU on Thursday at Chuck & Gloria Bell Field.

"Great game," head coach Manny Martins said. "We schedule these games to give our team a little bit of experience of what it's like to play top-25 teams… and to give them a little bit of a feel for when we get to the NCAA tournament at some point. These are the kinds of games you have to be ready to play. They showed that they were ready to play. It was a tough game. There were moments where we had to solve some real pressure. There were definitely momentum shifts and at times, we were the ones on the front foot. Great goal by Whitney. Really happy with our team but I know that we're still going to get better."

The Aggies fell behind in the 19th minute as the Cougars' leading scorer, Brecken Mozingo, won possession deep in USU territory and shot from the corner of the 18-yard box. Mozingo's shot snuck into the top left corner of the goal. BYU generated several more chances at goal in the final minutes of the half, striking the post and crossbar on multiple occasions before halftime.

The script flipped at the start of the second half as Utah State ramped up the pressure to find an equalizer. Despite numerous crosses and several counterattacks, the ever-elusive game-tying goal remained out of reach.

"At halftime, we talked and we just thought our pressure wasn't hard enough," Lopez said. "As soon as we started putting pressure on, we started winning the ball back and it worked in our favor."

Following an offsides call on the Cougars in the 83rd minute, the Aggies found space up the right side of the field. Crossing midfield, Salvesen-Harmer picked out Lopez at the top of the penalty area. With BYU's Taygan Sill coming off her line, Lopez broke free from her defender and managed to squeeze the header around the keeper and into the goal. Both teams warded off chances in the final minutes to secure the draw.

"It's my first goal of the season so that felt nice," Lopez said. "To tie it late, we knew we were still in the game, even after they scored, no one let down. So it was nice and we felt we got what we deserved. I feel like we had more opportunities that we need to just finish and that would help us a lot in every single game. We're working and preparing so next game, we'll be ready."

With Lopez's goal, the Aggies have now had nine different goal scorers on the year from 14 different assisting players. In total, 18 different players have recorded a point for USU this season. Utah State registered 13 shots for the match, including seven on goal, and also outshot BYU, 8-6, in the second half. Senior Diera Walton recorded three saves in the contest, surpassing 250 total saves in her Aggie career. With another 90 minutes on her ledger, Walton also moved into fourth-place all-time in career goalkeeper minutes at USU, having now played 5,165 minutes.

"We're playing top-25 teams and it's nice that we know that we're up there with them," Lopez said. "Even if we didn't make the NCAA tournament last year, this year we're in for a good treat. We're ready."

Utah State (2-2-4, 0-0 MW) heads back out on the road to conclude its non-conference schedule at Northern Colorado (4-2-2, 0-0 Big Sky) on Sunday, Sept. 18, at noon (MT).

"The most important game is the next game, Northern Colorado, so we can't really even think about conference yet," Martins said. "But when we make a schedule years in advance or for us, we have to think about everything that we're trying to prepare our team for. In that schedule, we have to prepare for the event that we make the NCAA tournament. We don't have anyone on the team that's been there. That's what this game was about and it's not us looking ahead. It's a tough conference and by no way, shape or form are we the favorites. We have a lot of work to do to even earn the opportunity to make it."

Fans can follow the Aggie soccer program on Twitter, @USUSoccer, on Facebook at /USUSoccer and on Instagram, @USUSoccer. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics. 

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