Griz soccer beats Vandals in semifinal shootout

MISSOULA — That was a battle. 

Scored on with eight seconds left in regulation, the Montana Grizzlies beat Idaho in a soccer shootout Friday, in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament at South Campus Stadium. 

Reagan Brisendine and Eliza Bentler scored in regulation for the Grizzlies, then hit penalty kicks in the shootout, which was necessary after neither team scored during the two 10-minute overtime periods.  

Maddie Ditta also found the net during the shootout; Bentler followed her to put the Grizzlies up 3-1 in the tiebreaker. When Idaho’s Annika Farley sent her kick just left of the goal, that clinched Montana’s berth in Sunday’s championship.  

The top-seeded Grizzlies (12-3-4) will face No. 2 seed Weber State (13-6-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Wildcats beat Northern Arizona 2-1 in Friday’s first semifinal. 

The Grizzlies were up 2-1 from the 53rd minute, when Brisendine scored her fifth goal of the season, until Idaho got the equalizer in the final 15 seconds. Izzy Thomas sent in a free kick from near midfield, Paula Flores deflected it into a glut of Vandals and Sara Rodgers found the top right corner of the net for her second goal of the day. 

“When they came in the huddle after (the Vandals) scored, I said, here we go,” Montana coach Chris Citowicki said. “ ‘How much of this can you take before we break and lose? We’re not breaking today.’ They just continued going.” 

Idaho (7-6-9) managed two shots in the first overtime and one in the second; UM had one shot in the second OT and was outshot 16-11 for the game. 

Eventually it came down to the shootout, where Montana keeper Ashlyn Dvorak — who made a fantastic save on a shot midway through the first OT, leaping high to make the deflection — and the Griz prevailed. 

“I was mentally preparing myself for penalty kicks and thinking if we get there, we’re still going to win,” Dvorak said. “I told Chris yesterday, if we go to PKs, we’re still winning. You can trust me that I’ll pull through and make the big saves that I need to make.” 

“We all feel like there is nothing we can’t do with Ashlyn in there,” Ditta, who will be playing in her first championship match on Sunday, said. “She is so confident and we’re so confident with her in that moment.” 

Brisendine, a sophomore out of Glacier High, had the assist on Bentler’s fourth goal of the season. Bentler, a senior out of Billings Senior, assisted on Brisendine’s. 

Montana faced Weber State once this season, beating the Wildcats 4-0 in Missoula on Oct. 9. 

Idaho    1    1    0    0    -    2 

Montana    1    1    0    0    -    2

I — Sara Rodgers (Naomi Alvarez, Izzy Thoma), 8:28 

UM — Eliza Bentler (Reagan Brisendine), 23:13 

UM — Brisendine (Bentler, Lydia Robertson), 52:39 

I — Rodgers (Thoma, Paula Flores), 89:52 

Shots on goal — Idaho 16, Montana 11. Keeper saves — Idaho (Flores) 2, Montana (Ashlyn Dvorak) 8. Corner kicks — Idaho 8, Montana 2. Fouls — Idaho 10, Montana 7. Cards — Idaho yellow, Montana yellow. 

Weber St. 2, No. Arizona 1 

Presley Ray and Brynlee Meyerhoffer both scored on free kicks in the second half as Weber State made up a 1-0 halftime deficit. 

The Wildcats outshot the Lumberjacks 17-6 but still trailed 1-0 after Micala Boex found the net for NAU in the eighth minute. 

Ray tied the match in the 57th minute; 11 minutes later Meyerhoffer put the Wildcats ahead for good.