Sudden death in Big Sky

Portland State women’s soccer, the reigning Big Sky regular season champions, lost 4-3 on sudden-death penalties to Weber State after a goalless overtime draw, in the first semi-final of the Big Sky tournament in Greeley, Colorado on Friday.

Portland State was the dominant team, out-shooting Weber State 22-8 in the game. The Vikings also led the corner kick count 5-0 and at one point were ahead 3-2 on penalties. However, they couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities and allowed the game to go into penalty kicks.

“Losing in the semifinals in penalty kicks, going to seven of them, is certainly a disappointing way to end this season,” head coach Laura Schott said in a media statement. “This season sent us a lot of adversity and our team answered that adversity and did very well.”

Even Weber State head coach Tim Crompton conceded that Portland State had played a strong game.

“Congratulations to Portland State. They played a good game, and that’s a very difficult way to go out,” Crompton said. “As far as the game is concerned, we didn’t play as well against them as when we played them at their place. That could be because they played a better game today.”

This defeat marks the end of the season for the Vikings. The team ended this year with an 8-7-3 overall record and 4-1-2 record in the Big Sky conference regular season. This is the third successive season that the Vikings have lost in the semi-finals of the Big Sky tournament. They have won the Big Sky regular season championship twice in the last three years.

On Friday’s match, although Portland State took 22 shots, a majority of them were from outside the 18-yard box. Junior midfielder Amanda Dutra had a career-high ten shots on goal. The Vikings also had five corner kick opportunities. However, both the teams were unable to break the stalemate after 110 minutes of action.

The penalty kick shoot-out between the two teams lasted for seven attempts. After the allotted five attempts, both teams were tied at 3-3. For Portland State, junior midfielder Amanda Dutra, junior defender Carlie Martin and sophomore midfielder Teal Sigler converted their chances. Weber State goalkeeper Ryann Waldman saved freshman midfielder Ariana Cooley’s efforts.

The three scorers for Weber State were Sarah Mager, Jessie Braddley and Collete Simmons. Vikings goalkeeper Melissa Ferguson made saves against Weber State’s Victoria Anderson and Abbey Kennedy.

With the score tied 3-3, the penalty kick contest turned into a sudden death shootout with the Vikings shooting first. In the sixth round, junior midfielder Michelle Hlasnik’s miss gave the Wildcats their first chance to win the game. However, Weber State’s Ryley Hansen missed her shot as well.

In the seventh round, Portland State central defender Toni Carnovale couldn’t slot the ball in the back of the net. This meant that if Weber State’s Alyssa Amano scored, her team would advance to the Big Sky Tournament finals for the first time since 2008. Amano scored and knocked the Vikings out of the tournament.

“I just knew that I had to do my part and put the ball in the net,” Amano said. “I was nervous, but I felt confident. I tried to keep myself calm. Goalkeeper Ryann [Waldman] stepped up and made some great plays for us. It made it less pressure on me because she had stepped up and stopped the kick right before me.”

“Well we played really well and we fought literally 90 minutes and the two overtimes,” Waldman said. “It was a battle the whole entire game. Penalty kicks were definitely stressful, but you just go into them knowing that the only thing that you can do is what you can do.”

Waldman made a career-high 12 saves in the game including three penalty kick stops. On the other hand, Ferguson made six saves during the match.

Schott, who is now the most successful coach in program history appreciated the team’s effort this year and set her sights on next year’s campaign. “I’d like to thank our seniors for four tremendous years,” Schott said. “I would like to thank the rest of the team for a good season and we look forward to getting beyond the semis next year.”

Also, the other semi-final between host Northern Colorado and Montana went down to the wire. After a 1-1 draw in overtime, Montana prevailed 3-2 over the Bears in a penalty kick shootout.

In the Big Sky tournament final played on Sunday between Weber State and Montana, the score was tied 1-1 after overtime. In the penalty kick shootout, Montana edged out Weber State 4-3 and were crowned the 2011 Big Sky Champions.