INW College Recap - Week 12: Broncos make run, but fall short in MWC Final; plus WAC & Big Sky tourney results

The Broncos of Boise State added to their quality season with a good run in the Mountain West Conference's postseason tournament, reaching the championship game before falling to San Diego State by the same narrow 1-0 scoreline from the regular season. The results, which included a victory over second-place Fresno State could have the Broncos on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, the University of Idaho Vandals saw their final Western Athletic Conference contest finish with a big thud as they were unable to solve regular season champion Seattle University in their third consecutive meeting. After falling 3-0 and 3-1 in the final week of the season, the Vandals were thumped handily by the Redhawks, who cruised to the league championship with a 3-0 win in the Final.

The Vandals now begin preparations for the Big Sky, which crowned its postseason conference champion over the weekend. Weber State took the crown after a scoreless draw with Portland State via penalties, marking the third consecutive year the conference title has been decided from the spot. Two years ago the Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament after falling in the tiebreaker to Montana, who were edged in last year's shootout by Idaho State.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE - WOMEN

2013 Mountain West Women’s Championship (@ New Mexico)

Monday, November 4 - First Round 

#6 UNLV (2) 1 :: PK :: 1 (4) #7 Wyoming
#5 Utah State 2 :: 0 #8 Nevada

Tuesday, November 5 - Second Round

#4 New Mexico (2) 0 :: PK :: 0 (4) Utah State 

#3 Boise State 3 :: 0 Wyoming
The Broncos took advantage of the exhausted Cowgirls, who went to penalties the night before, just three minutes into the contest when Katy Oehring headed in a corner from Mikhaila Bowden. Another Bowden corner was sent in to Shannon Schueren, who in turn found Brooke Heidemann (Meridian, ID) inside the six for the close-range finish into the roof of the goal two minutes before the break. Yet another Bowden corner completed the scoring when she found Oehring at the far post in the 68th minute. At the other end Maddy McDevitt recorded her eighth shutout with six saves. MORE

Thursday, November 7 - Semifinals

#1 San Diego State 3 :: 2 Utah State

#2 Fresno State 1 :: OT :: 2 Boise State 

The Broncos avenged their earlier season road loss to the Bulldogs, taking the lead 29 minutes into the match when Gabby Garcia drove down the right side before sending the ball into the area where Kayla Tucker was able to place it inside the left post. Maddy McDevitt nearly picked up another shutout win but her lone save of the contest in the 64th minute on a point-blank shot rebounded out and ricocheted off a Bronco defender and back for an own goal, ultimately sending the contest to overtime. Garcia again played a critical role with just over a minute remaining when her header out toward the left touchline was run onto by KT Clayton, who proceeded to beat the last remaining defender as well as the goalkeeper before putting it away for the victory with 66 seconds left on the clock before penalties. MORE

Saturday, November 9 - Championship 

Boise State 0 :: 1 San Diego State
For the second time this year, the Broncos just could not find a way past Aztecs goalkeeper Melanie Vaughn as they fell by the same 1-0 scoreline.  Vaughn made five saves to Maddy McDevitt's six at the other end with San Diego State finishing with the advantage in shots at 16-10. The two sides were deadlocked until Hannah Keane struck for the conference's regular season champion Aztecs in the 70th minute. Katy Oehring had two quality chances for BSU in the loss and led the program's selections to the All-Tournament Team which also featured Brooke Heidemann (Meridian, ID) and McDevitt. MORE

Final Conference Standings
San Diego State 9-1-0… Fresno State 7-2-1… Boise State 6-3-1… New Mexico 6-3-1… Utah State 5-3-2… UNLV 5-5-0… Wyoming 4-4-2… Nevada 3-6-1… Air Force 2-7-1… San Jose State 2-7-1… Colorado State 1-9-0

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE - WOMEN

2013 Western Athletic Conference Championship (@ New Mexico State)

Friday, November 8 - Semifinals 

#2 Kansas City 2 :: 0 #3 Utah Valley 

#1 Seattle U 6 :: 1 #4 Idaho
The Redhawks dominated from the beginning, outshooting the Vandals 13-0 in the first half, but it was not until a scramble off a free kick in the 25th minute finally broke the deadlock that things snowballed for Seattle. They added a second just a minute later and pushed the lead to three in the 42nd minute. The Redhawks added two more in the first 11 minutes of the second half to put the match well out of reach at a five-goal margin before Idaho got on the board off a restart in the 63rd minute. Elexis Schlossarek, who nearly scored in the 61st on a bobbled 35-yard free kick that was the team's first shot, delivered a long free kick into the six from about 40 yards out that Chelsie Breen (Cheney, ID) won the challenge for in the air against the keeper for the goal. Julia Moravec (Spokane, WA) closed out the scoring for Seattle in the 72nd minute. Katie Baran (Spokane, WA) and Gabby Leong were named to the All-Tournament Team. MORE

Sunday, November 10 - Championship 

Seattle U 3 :: 0 Kansas City 

Final Conference Standings
Seattle 12-0-0… Kansas City 8-4-0… Utah Valley 7-4-1… Grand Canyon 4-7-1… Idaho 4-8-0… Bakersfield 3-8-1… New Mexico State 2-9-1

BIG SKY CONFERENCE - WOMEN

2013 Big Sky Conference Championship (@ Portland State)

Thursday, November 7 - Semifinals 

#3 Weber State 3 :: 0 #2 Northern Arizona 
#4 Northern Colorado 0 :: 2 #1 Portland State

Saturday, November 9 - Championship 

Weber State (3) 0 :: PK :: 0 (0) Portland State 
Goalkeeper Caitlin Plese (Spokane Shine) finished with two shutouts in the postseason and a spot on the All-Tournament Team but was unable to do much as the conference title came down to a shootout for a third consecutive year. The Wildcats, who fell in penalties in 2011, scored all three while the Vikings' first three attempts saw two go off-target and the other saved. MORE

Final Conference Standings
Portland State 8-0-1… Northern Arizona 7-2-0… Weber State 5-2-2… Northern Colorado 5-2-2… Idaho State 4-3-2… Sacramento State 3-5-1… Montana 3-5-1… Southern Utah 3-5-1… Eastern Washington 1-8-0… North Dakota 1-8-0

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