PROVO, Utah – Two goals apiece from Ashley Hatch and Michele Murphy helped the No. 17 BYU women’s soccer team knock off Santa Clara 5-2 Thursday night at South Field.

“Santa Clara is one of the top programs in the country,” head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for them and all of their coaches and to beat a quality opponent like that is certainly a big deal for us. But most importantly we wanted to get three points tonight to move closer to our goal of winning the conference.”

The win for BYU (11-3-2, 5-0-0) is its 10^th consecutive victory and first over Santa Clara (10-6-0, 3-2-1) in program history. The Cougars remain undefeated in West Coast Conference play and have a 12-game win streak against conference opponents dating back to last season. The two goals for Hatch moved her into a tie for fifth place on BYU’s career multiple-goal games list with four.

The Cougars got the scoring started early. In the third minute Elena Medeiros found Hatch inside the box, the sophomore forward took the shot that deflected off a Bronco defender into the net giving BYU an early 1-0 lead.

Santa Clara responded seconds later. Sofia Huerta laid a beautiful cross to Mariana Galvan who deflected the ball off her chest past BYU’s keeper Katherine Snyder, snapping her three-game shutout streak.

Murphy found herself with nothing but grass between her and the Bronco keeper on a breakaway in the 23^rd minute. The keeper came to meet her at the top of the box, Murphy gave a little fake to beat her and then flicked in the goal with her left foot to put BYU up 2-1.

The Broncos didn’t stay down for long again. Minutes later, Brittany Ambrose scored off a free kick to tie the game up at two.

Hatch took matters into her own hands in the 29^th minute. She took a touch from Marissa Nimmer and battled three Bronco defenders in the box while keeping control of the ball and beat the keeper with her left foot to put BYU up 3-2.

Murphy got on the board again in the 47^th minute when Niki Fernandes crossed the ball and Murphy drilled it off the post past the keeper to make it 4-2 BYU. Freshman Nadia Gomes scored her second goal of the season in the 87^th minute to seal a 5-2 BYU victory.

Up next for BYU is San Francisco at South Field Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m. MDT. It’s the final home match of the season and the Cougar seniors will be honored before the game. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio on Sirius XM channel 143. The Cougar IMG Sports Network will broadcast the game live on BYUcougars.com and the BYU Cougars app. 

PROVO, Utah —Riding a nine-game winning streak the No. 17 BYU women's soccer team (10-3-2, 4-0-0) is the only undefeated team in West Coast Conference action. The Cougars play their final two home league games this week hosting Santa Clara on Thursday, Oct. 23 and San Francisco on Saturday, Oct. 25.

BYU has won 11 straight conference games dating back to last season.

Both games start at 7 p.m. MDT and will be carried live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio on Sirius XM channel 143.  The Cougar IMG Sports Network will broadcast the game on BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.

Last week, the Cougar women had one game on the schedule, traveling to Los Angeles to battle WCC foe LMU. In that game, three players (Elisabeth Phillips, Niki Fernandes and Ashley Hatch) scored a goal each to down the Lions 3-0.

Hatch leads BYU’s scoring threat with 29 points off of 12 goals and five assists. Fernandes follows with 13 points, including four goals and five assists. Elena Medeiros rounds out the top three scorers on the team with 12 points from four goals and four assists. With the shutout over LMU, Katherine Snyder recorded her sixth shutout of the season.

Santa Clara comes to Provo with a (10-3-2, 3-1-0) record and is tied with Gonzaga for third place in the latest WCC standings. They are on a three-game winning streak in league action recording wins over LMU, San Francisco and Pacific. Their one loss in WCC play was at No. 11 Pepperdine where they fell to the Waves 2-1.

Sofia Huerta leads the Broncos in scoring with 10 goals and two assists. The Broncos hold a 0-6-2 record over the Cougars in the series. In Provo, Santa Clara has recorded a 2-1 overtime victory  in 2000 when both teams were in the NCAA tournament and in 2013 as WCC foes. Last year the game finished in a 0-0 double overtime tie.

San Francisco has compiled a (6-7-2, 2-2-0) record to date. They’ve recorded WCC wins over LMU and Saint Mary’s and are tied in fourth place with San Diego entering this week’s league action. Jessica Nakae has scored three goals and one assist leading the way in scoring for the Dons. Mackenzie Krieser is next with three goals. San Francisco has never won in Provo. The Cougars hold a 4-0 advantage in the series.  In the game against the Dons, the four seniors on the BYU team (Annie Amos, Niki Fernandes, Katherine Snyder and Jaiden Thornock) will be recognized.

After the two home league games, BYU will play its final three conference games on the road at Saint Mary’s on Oct. 30, at Pacific on Nov. 1 and at Pepperdine on Nov. 8.

VIDEO: BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood discussed the upcoming games on BYU Sports Nation during Thursday's show.