MISSOULA, Mont. — Sophomores Lexi Schroeder and Teysha-Ray Spinney-Kuahuia each found the back of the net in regulation and freshman goalkeeper Sierra Sonko came off the bench to stop a pair of Northern Arizona penalties following two scoreless overtime periods, helping No. 5 Sacramento State upend the No. 4 Lumberjacks in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Wednesday evening.
The match officially ends in a 2-2 draw as the Hornets defeated NAU, 4-3, in penalties to move on and face top-seeded and host Montana in the semifinals on Friday (Nov. 8) at 1 p.m. PT. Wednesday marked the fourth time that Sacramento State has had a conference tournament match decided in penalties, improving to 2-2 in those contests with the last win coming in the 2006 semifinals against the Grizzlies following a 1-1 draw.
The Hornets, into the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2021 when they also faced Montana, moved to 5-6-7 overall on the year with Wednesday's result, remaining unbeaten in their last seven contests (3-0-4) dating back to a loss on Sept 29 at Eastern Washington.
That streak is tied for the third-longest in school history, while the seven draws are now the most in the history of the program, surpassing the previous mark of six set in 2019.
Northern Arizona finished its season at 4-7-6 overall.
Friday marks the second meeting of the year between Sacramento State and Montana after the two schools finished in a scoreless draw in Sacramento on Oct. 18. The Hornets and Grizzlies have met three times in the Big Sky Tournament, with Montana holding a 2-0-1 record in those matches.
After neither team dented the back of the net in either of the two 10-minute "golden goal" overtime periods, the two squads moved on to penalties where Sacramento State was good on its first two attempts by Abigail Lopez and Madelyn Dougherty before Lumberjack goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran came up with a save on the Hornets' third attempt.
A kick save at the right post by Sonko on NAU's next attempt kept the teams level as makes by Ariana Scholten and Sydney Sharts followed to put Sacramento State on the verge of victory.
Sonko, who had played in only one match this season against Idaho State on Oct. 4, then took her final turn between the pipes and denied the Lumberjacks' Micala Boex with a diving stop to her right, setting off the Hornets' celebration.
Nearly two hours earlier, Northern Arizona jumped out to the early lead with a goal in the 32nd minute by Kayla Shebar for the 1-0 lead, but Sacramento State had an answer right before the first-half horn as
Ellie Farber played a ball ahead for Schroeder, who got enough of her foot of the ball to punch it with enough momentum to get it underneath the NAU keeper and have it roll across the goal line to tie the score.
It was Schroeder's first career goal and Farber's second assist of the year as the two teams went into the locker room deadlocked.
Sacramento State then needed just seven minutes to take its first lead of the day as freshman
Tierra Pickell played Farber out wide to the left before the sophomore chipped another ball to the near post inside the box. That's where it met the head of Spinney-Kuahuia, who flicked a header back to the right post for her second score of the year and a 2-1 lead.
For Pickell, it was her first collegiate point, while Farber became the second Hornet to post two assists in a match this season along with Lopez, who accomplished the feat against Weber State on Oct. 6.
The Lumberjacks weren't done, however, as Boex was able to convert on a penalty in the 68th minute after one of her teammates was taken down in the box, tying the match at two apiece.
Both teams had chances in the overtime periods, but came up empty. A shot by Pickell off a free kick by Sharts was tipped off the crossbar in the 96th minute by Corcoran, while starter
Izzy Palmatier stopped a pair of attempts, including one on the doorstep in the 105th minute, to keep things level.
Palmatier finished with eight saves in 110 minutes of play — her highest total in a match since stopping 10 shots in 90 regulation minutes against Oregon on Sept. 8. Farber and Schroeder had three shots apiece to lead Sacramento State, which finished with 15 attempts for the contest to 20 for NAU.
