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| Idaho State and Montana advanced to Big Sky tournament, could face each other for title | Photos: Gerald Barnhart |
Weber State finished fourth to round out the field, holding off contender Northern Colorado with a draw in their head-to-head showdown for the final spot Saturday.
Thursday
North Dakota 1 :: 4 Weber State
Northern Colorado 0 :: 2 Idaho State
Facing a side that was essentially fighting for the fourth playoff berth, it took nearly an hour for ISU to break through against the preseason pick for second in the conference. Allyssa Kenney broke the stalemate with the rare scored directly off a corner kick. Ten minutes later a fortunate deflection off a defender sent the ball to Katie Flynn, who knocked it in from 10 yards for some insurance as the defense stood strong for its first shutout of the conference campaign with Sheridan Hapsic making five saves. – MORE
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| Mary Makris, Montana |
Friday
Sacramento State 1 :: 3 Portland State
Montana 1 :: 0 Southern Utah
Despite facing a Southern Utah side that had one conference win, the Grizzlies struggled to find the winning strike to in the running for the conference title, sending three shots off the woodwork in the first half-hour, including two from Maddey Frey. Mary Makris (Emigrant, MT) helped break the stalemate with a cross in the 66th minute that found the head of Paytyn Wheeler after she had won the ball on the right flank. Kristen Hoon made six saves for her seventh shutout of the season. – MORE
Eastern Washington 0 :: 0 Northern Arizona
The Eagles picked up their second road point of the season behind a strong defensive effort led by six saves from Jamie Walker. – MORE
Saturday
Northern Colorado 1 :: 1 Weber State
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| Amanda Ellsworth, Idaho State |
North Dakota 0 :: 3 Idaho State
With the Vikings winning the day before, the Bengals were forced to post a victory against the winless visitors to claim a share of the Big Sky title. They made sure that was the case with two goals in the first half-hour. ISU took the lead again on a goal directly off a corner kick for the second consecutive game, this time from defender Allyson Stainbrook in the 23rd minute. Then Amanda Ellsworth took over, picking up a brace for the second week in a row. She doubled the lead four minutes later when Madeline Gochnour found her for the five yard finish and capped the regular season with her eighth of the season in the 65th minute, nodding. Hapsic made another seven saves for a second consecutive shutout. – MORE
Sunday
Sacramento State 1 :: 2 San Jose State (non-conf)
Eastern Washington 1 ::0 Southern Utah
The Eagles picked up their first road win of the season, downing the Thunderbirds on a strike from Torri Sitzman 14 minutes in on the scramble following a Danielle Jones corner that dropped into the box and bounced around before popping out to her for the 19-yard rip past the keeper. Jamie Walker made another six saves for her second shutout of the weekend to close out her career. – MORE
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| Kristen Hoon, Montana |
Montana 1 :: 0 Northern Arizona
Unlike the contest Friday, the Grizzlies found the lone goal they needed eight minutes into the match, earning them a share of the regular season title. A pass from the well wide on the right side by Mackenzie Akins found Mary Makris (Emigrant, MT) for what stood as the winner. Her 10-yard finish was backed up by a defensive effort that allowed just four shots, leaving Kristen Hoon with just one save to make for the shutout. – MORE
Standings [+]
Coming Up Next Week
Friday
#3 Montana vs # 2 Portland State – 11:30
#4 Weber State @ #1 Idaho State – 3:00
Sunday
Championship
Tournament Info [+]
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