Monday, October 23, 2017

Big Sky Plus - 10.23.17 DI Round-Up: Montana Rallies to Clinch Tourney Berth

Two days after the four sides behind Eastern Washington dropped points, three of them punched their tickets to the Big Sky Tournament. Montana and Northern Colorado snatched up spots with victories while Portland State, which fell to UNC, were locked in via other results.

Idaho, the regular season champions a year ago, beat Idaho State to keep their hopes alive. They sit two points back of a foursome with one game remaining and two spots left up for grabs. The simplest scenario - devoid of tiebreakers - requires a win at still unbeaten Eastern Washington paired with a North Dakota loss to UNC along with either Northern Arizona or Sacramento State winning in their match-up against one another. Southern Utah, part of the foursome, has finished its season.

Also clinching a postseason berth Sunday was Boise State, which extended its unbeaten streak to six games in the Mountain West with a big win on Senior Day. Raimee Sherle had another big day with three goals and an assist, putting her atop the league table with 36 points and in a tie for the league lead with 15 goals.

BIG SKY ROUND-UP #### 


Eastern Washington 2-1 Weber State
Fresh off becoming the All-Time Big Sky Goals Scorer Friday, Chloe Williams (Spokane, WA) scored both goals in a comeback win. The Wildcats led after a goal in the 32nd until Williams put away a cross from Savannah Hoekstra (Spokane, WA) in the 62nd. She tallied the winner off a ball from Aimie Inthoulay in the 80th.

Idaho 2-1 Idaho State
Brooke Kortekaas set up Lauren McGahie in the 20th minute to give the Bengals the lead. Kelly Dopke evened it up in the 57th with a free kick and Olivia Baggerly struck for the game-winner in the 77th.

North Dakota 1-2 Montana 
Elle Otteson put away a loose ball in a scramble off a corner in the 18th minute and Charlene Burger buried a first-time effort off a Kennedy Yost (Pocatello, ID) cross in the 42nd. The visitors tallied their lone goal in the 58th.

Northern Colorado 2-0 Portland State
Southern Utah 0-4 Sacramento State

Remaining Schedule...

Friday, October 27
Eastern Washington @ Idaho
Portland State @ Montana
Weber State @ Idaho State
Northern Colorado @ North Dakota
Northern Arizona @ Sacramento State

Big Sky Standings (W-L-T... Pts)
Eastern Washington 8-0-1... 25#
Montana 5-2-2... 17^
Northern Colorado 5-3-1... 16^
Portland State 5-4-0... 15^
Northern Arizona 4-5-0... 12
North Dakota 4-5-0... 12
Southern Utah 4-6-0... 12
Sacramento State 3-3-3... 12
Idaho 3-5-1... 10
Weber State 2-5-2... 8
Idaho State 2-7-0... 6
^Clinched Big Sky Playoff spot
# Regular Season Champion / Tournament host

OTHER DI RESULTS #### 

WOMEN - GONZAGA 

10/21 - Gonzaga 0-1 Portland
In a busy game full of chances the Bulldogs outshot Portland 19-14 in the contest, but Portland saw plenty of opportunities from corners. The Pilots had eight corner chances in the first half, but it was their lone corner kick in the second half that produced the game-winner.

Remaining Schedule...
10/26 - BYU @ Gonzaga
10/28 - San Diego @ Gonzaga
11/4 - Gonzaga @ Loyola Marymount

WOMEN - WASHINGTON STATE 

#6 USC 1-2 Washington State 
Two days after knocking off the number two team in the nation, the Cougars came close to another big upset against a Top-10 foe. The Trojans grabbed the lead in the eighth minute, but the hosts answered when Morgan Weaver set up Elyse Bennett in the 27th. USC reclaimed the lead four minutes before the break and held on for the result. Grace Hancock (Boise, ID) made two goal-line stops to keep WSU in the match, their final home contest of the year.

Remaining Schedule...
10/26 - Washington State @ Arizona State
10/29 - Washington State @ Arizona
11/3 - Washington State @ Washington

WOMEN - BOISE STATE  

UNLV 1-6 Boise State     
Senior Day proved to be a lot of fun for the Broncos, who clinched a spot in the Mountain West Tournament with the win, pushing their unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2). Raimee Sherle scored in the first minute of the match and again in the ninth. Madi Campbell pushed it to three in the 36th and Aubree Chatterton tallied four minutes later. Sherle took center stage again in the second half with her third goal in the 74th via senior Sarah Taylor and set up senior Baylee Blaser in the 82nd. UNLV spoiled the shutout for senior Janelle Flores two minutes later.

Remaining Schedule...
10/27 - Boise State @ Utah State
10/31-11/4 - Mountain West Tournament

Mountain West Standings (partial)
San Jose State 8-1-1... 25 pts
New Mexico 7-3-0... 21
Boise State 6-2-2... 20
San Diego State 6-2-2... 20
Fresno State 5-3-2... 17

MEN - GONZAGA

Idle.

Next...
10/27 - San Francisco @ Gonzaga
10/29 - Santa Clara @ Gonzaga  

NOTES

Blake Bodily (Eagle, ID) set up Washington's first two goals in the 76th and 79th in a 3-0 victory against California.


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