From BYU to home: Mia Lopez finds her rhythm as Utah State’s rising midfielder

A year ago, Mia Lopez was starting every soccer match for Brigham Young University in a Big 12 Tournament. Now she’s back in her hometown, and Utah State University head coach Manny Martins is trying to figure out how to get the most out of her.

“She’s an incredible player — so fun to watch,” Martins said. “Some of the stuff she did in the box today, at times it looks like Leo Messi out there, and then an incredible human being — someone that’s really added so much to our team, making us better, adding different layers.”

Lopez, a sophomore midfielder, grew up in Logan playing club soccer with La Roca Futbol Club and starring at Logan High School, where she was a three-year letterwinner. She earned Utah 4A Second-Team All-State honors as a freshman before back-to-back first-team selections, totaling 43 goals and 15 assists in three prep seasons before an injury cost her senior year. 

Soccer runs in the family — two of her older sisters played college soccer, including her sister Whitney, who played for Utah State from 2020 to 2024.

“I’ve grown up around it,” Lopez said. “I was easily influenced by my older sisters, so I just kept playing, and it’s fun, and I get to make new friends with it.”

Lopez began her college career at BYU in 2025, starting all 24 games as a freshman and finishing as the team’s second-leading scorer with six goals. She played nearly 1,300 minutes, tallying 33 shots with 14 on goal and scoring two game-winning goals. She earned Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors and was twice named the conference Freshman of the Week as the Cougars won a Big 12 Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Despite that success, Lopez decided to transfer home to Utah State for her sophomore season.

“Obviously, Logan’s home,” Lopez said. “The team environment here is super good, and I love being around a good team, and that just really made me want to come home.”

The move also came with a shift on the field. Lopez played forward for much of her freshman season at BYU but has settled into midfield with the Aggies, a position she said suits her best.

“I played a little bit of everything in club,” Lopez said. “I played center forward, the nine, a little bit my first year at BYU, but I love midfield. I get the most action in it, so I like being in that area of the field.”

Martins said Lopez’s talent creates a challenge for him as a coach, figuring out how to position her to make the most of her ability.

“It’s my task, or my challenge, to figure out how to get the most of her,” Martins said. “Because she’s an incredible player, we’ve got to make sure that we’re putting her in positions where she can affect the game the way that we know she can.”

With Lopez only in her second college season, Martins said he sees years of growth ahead for her and several other young Aggies.

“She’s only starting her sophomore year, right?” Martins said. “In a perfect world, we have this year and three more years with her. The ceiling is unreal. I think the sky’s the limit, and we just have to keep working hard and not get complacent.”

Lopez’s rise has extended beyond the college game. In February, she was selected to train with the U.S. Under-19 Women’s National Team, joining a camp in Portugal that included matches against Czechia, Wales and Portugal. All players in that camp, including Lopez, are age-eligible for the 2026 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Poland. 

Lopez, who wears No. 12 for the Aggies, was one of six midfielders named to the U-19 roster alongside players from programs such as Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Lopez is majoring in kinesiology and said she hopes to keep playing soccer beyond her time at Utah State if the opportunity arises.

“Hopefully finish up here, finish my schooling, and also playing, obviously,” Lopez said. “We’ll see if I want to continue playing. If the opportunity’s there, I’ll take it. If it’s not, then that’s what it’s meant to be.”

For this season, Lopez said her focus is on making an impact in every way she can, both on the field and off it.

“Honestly, just make a big impact with this team,” Lopez said. “I think whether that’s on and off the field, I hope I can play a part and do my role, and I think on the field especially, contributing to goals, assisting, scoring, and then off the field — just bringing good energy to the team.”

Martins said that two-way contribution is part of what makes Lopez, and several of Utah State’s other young players, difficult to project as they continue to develop.

“We have so many really young players. They’re just finding their rhythm. They’re just really starting to figure out the pace and the physicality and everything of the college game, and they’re so young,” Martins said. “So yeah, the ceiling is unreal.”

For now, Lopez said she’s simply glad to be back on a roster close to home, playing alongside teammates in a program she said embraces the identity Martins has built.