PROVO — The top-seeded BYU women's soccer team found itself trying to overcome a slow start in an intense, physical battle with No. 4-seed New Mexico in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at South Field.

Fortunately for the Cougars, freshman forward Carlee Payne was ready when the opportunity presented itself. She scored the only goal of the match in the 31st minute of play to give BYU the 1-0 win and move on to Saturday's championship.

"It was a very tough game, very physical," Payne said. "They wanted it as badly as we did but we were able to get the goal. It was a close game but no one thought that would be the only score to go in."

The physical play made highlight rounds on ESPN Thursday, (viewable here on a YouTube link), with show hosts and one soccer analyst talking about various questionable plays of the match. See it below.

The Cougars executed a long set piece nearly to perfection to put the ball into the net as senior defender Andrea Willis lofted a free kick from near midfield into the Lobo penalty box.

BYU junior midfielder Kassidy C. Shumway won the battle for the ball, heading back into the middle where Payne was waiting. Her header was placed to the right side and made it across the end line for the goal.

"I knew I just needed to hit it on frame," Payne said. "The goalie was kind of in the middle, so I went outside and I just got it to go in."

It's become something the Cougars have come to expect from the freshman, who leads the team with 13 goals and 10 assists this season.

"That was a tough header," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. "I don't know how she did it but Payne has had a fantastic year. She's scored a lot of big goals for us but that one was the biggest so far."

The rest of the contest was controlled by the Cougar backline, which refused to allow New Mexico to get the equalizer. BYU sophomore goalkeeper McKinzie Olson earned her 11th shutout but there were still a few tense moments.

"They had more shots than usual, more than we wanted them to have," Olson said. "We didn't have our best game but a win is a win. We're lucky to come away with it."