Big Sky Tonight 11.6.16: Eastern Washington wins Big Sky title in penalties

It could have been one of the most heartbreaking endings ever. Eastern Washington thoroughly dominated Sunday afternoon in Cheney against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Championship match only to find themselves trailing after a penalty and ultimately needing the shootout tiebreaker to claim the program's first-ever league championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

After giving up a penalty in the first half, EWU tied things up early in the second period and went the distance even at 1-1, sending the game to a shootout. In the tiebreaker, the Eagles prevailed 4-3 to claim the Big Sky Championship as the league's fifth seed, though they were among the league leaders before going 1-3-1 in their final five of the season.

Big Sky Round-Up 11.4.16: Eastern edges Montana, face Vandals in semis Friday

Eastern Washington avenged their 3-2 overtime home loss from just five days earlier against the University of Montana with a narrow 1-0 victory on a first half goal from Chloe Williams in the second match of the opening round doubleheader. In the first, Northern Arizona knocked out the defending tournament champion Northern Colorado with a 2-1 result.

The results set NAU up against Sacramento State and the Eagles up against local foe and top seed University of Idaho, which will be looking to avenge their lone loss of the Big Sky campaign.

In their previous match, Delaney Romero scored in the first half of the match for EWU and Elexis Schlossarek tied it up with a penalty in the 86th to send the match to overtime where Eastern won 2-1 on a Williams penalty 10 minutes in. The loss ended the Vandals' 11-game unbeaten run in the Big Sky. Since then, though, the Vandals are back on another run with a streak of 6-0-2, repeating as Big Sky regular season champions with a record of 7-1-2.

In the other semifinal, the match-up where their previous meeting left off as the Hornets and Lumberjacks finished even at 1-1 in Arizona. Lindsay Doyle scored for the Jacks at home in the sixth minute with an own goal putting Sac State level in the second half. That meeting, like EWU-Idaho's, also came on the second gameday of the Big Sky season. Since that game, Sacramento State has gone 5-2-1 and NAU went 4-2-2.

First Round Recaps...

Big Sky Tonight 10.28.16: Vandals repeat as season champs; Griz rally at EWU

The Idaho Vandals took care of business against the Idaho State on Friday to wrap up a repeat of the regular season Big Sky championship. The Vandals, though, will host the postseason tournament at Eastern Washington University in Cheney due to field concerns at Guy Wicks Field, which has been a muddy mess in their last two games.

According to sources, the Vandals were working on alternatives to hosting at home during the week, reaching out to Eastern, CC Spokane's facility at Spokane Falls CC and even Washington State University. Even the pitch at Eastern - despite a lot of work to preserve it - showed the effects of the weeks of rain Friday as the field was slick and a few spots began to produce mud stains on sliding players. Staff borrowed baseball tarps from CC Spokane and Walla Walla CC in their efforts.

Eastern, though, was less successful on the pitch in their finale as a two goal lead was not enough against visiting Montana, which rallied with two in the second half and an early overtime winner.

Big Sky Tonight 10.23.16: Idaho clinches share of Big Sky title with four point weekend

The Final Friday of the Big Sky season will certainly be dramatic. With Idaho picking up a draw and a win at home this weekend, the Vandals ensured at least a share of the regular season championship going into their last game, but Eastern Washington rebounded from a Friday defeat by winning at North Dakota to keep the Vandals within reach.

Hosting Montana, a side still working to return to the postseason, in their finale, the Eagles could earn a share of the title and the right to host the Big Sky tournament if they post a win and the Vandals fall to in-state foe Idaho State in their home finale.

A pair of tight contests on the weekend earned Montana (4-2-3, 15 points) a narrow win and a scoreless draw, leaving them tied for fourth in the table as the race for the remaining three of six berths are up for grabs. Also in the mix are Northern Arizona (15 points), Northern Colorado (13), Portland State (13) and Idaho State (12).

The Bengals still have an outside shot at reaching the postseason despite dropping both matches on the weekend, but will need some help in addition to posting a win at Idaho.

Big Sky Tonight 10.16.16: Idaho State wins again, EWU falters in title chase

Eastern Washington's game in hand in the race for the regular season title with Idaho ended up being empty as the Eagles fell on the road Sunday, 3-1, at Northern Arizona, leaving the idle Vandals up two points. NAU was the lone team to register a win at home in 10 Big Sky contests on the weekend.

Meanwhile, Sacramento pulled even in the table on points with Eastern with their third consecutive win - the longest in the conference - and the duo of Idaho State and Montana climbed back in the thick of the postseason picture with victories. Montana won at Southern Utah, 2-0, to sit fifth with NAU while the Bengals topped Weber State to move into fourth with three games left - a complete surprise considering the preseason coaches poll had them finishing dead last.

Big Sky Tonight 10.14.16: Leaders Idaho, EWU play to ties on the road

Crazy weather rolled through the western United States on Friday and the results come across the interwebs were the same. In the afternoon, the second place Eastern Washington University Eagles played to an eye-opening 3-3 draw with cellar-dweller Southern Utah. With the door open for Idaho to expand their league lead, they came up short in an evening contest in Utah as well against third place Weber State.

The only winners on the day in five games were Portland State, who surprised reigning conference tournament champion Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State, which has climbed into third on the strength of two consecutive wins - the longest current win streak in the conference.

Big Sky Tonight 10.9.16: Idaho rallies to win, Williams breaks record in EWU victory

The University of Idaho fought back at Portland State to snag a 2-1 victory to remain atop the Big Sky Conference at 5-1-0 Sunday while Eastern Washington, second with a game in hand, blanked Weber State to remain unbeaten at 4-0-1.

Big Sky Tonight 10.7.16: Vandals rally to big win; Griz blank Weber State

The Idaho Vandals and Montana Grizzlies posted big victories Friday over Sacramento State and Weber State, moving the Vandals past idle Eastern Washington into first place in the Big Sky Conference. Idaho State, meanwhile, overcame a deficit against Portland State twice before grabbing their third win in a row in overtime.

Big Sky Tonight 10.2.16: Idaho State stuns champs, jump to fourth

Last year the Idaho State Bengals did not win a single Big Sky game. This year, their losing streak in conference play hit 13 games with two defeats on opening weekend last week. Picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish dead last, the Bengals put everyone on notice this weekend that they intend to put up a fight this year. After squeaking past North Dakota on Friday, they stunned everyone Sunday by rallying from a two goal deficit against the reigning Big Sky tournament champion Northern Colorado to post an eye-brow raising 6-2 victory.

The turnaround allowed the Bengals to jump from last in the league to fourth, sitting behind Eastern Washington, Idaho and Weber State. On Sunday, EWU posted a 1-0 road win over Sacramento State, avenging last season's opening round conference tournament loss. Idaho crushed North Dakota. Montana, meanwhile, fell 1-0 on the road at Portland State.

Big Sky Tonight 9.30.16: Idaho, Idaho State win as Griz, Eags earn ties

The Idaho Vandals gained a bit of ground back up on Eastern Washington Friday in the Big Sky Conference thanks to a 2-0 home win in a rematch of last year's conference tournament final against Northern Colorado. Meanwhile, league leading Eastern Washington and Montana played to draws on the road. The Bengals of Idaho State also ended a 13-game Big Sky losing streak.

Big Sky Tonight 9.25.16: Eastern Washington sweeps, alone in first

The Eagles of Eastern Washington University completed a weekend sweep of the Idaho schools with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory Sunday against fellow Big Sky favorite University of Idaho. The victory, combined with other results on the weekend, left Eastern as the only team with two victories from the opening weekend of play in the Big Sky Conference.

Big Sky Tonight: Eags & Vandals dominate openers

It was a good kick off for Eastern Washington and the defending regular season champion University of Idaho on Friday afternoon as both rolled to three-goal victories. In fact, the top three teams from last year all started with wins as Northern Colorado also was victorious at Weber State.