Top-seed Montana stunned by Sacramento State on penalty kicks in Big Sky soccer semifinals

MISSOULA — The Sacramento State Hornets stunned the top-seeded Montana Grizzlies on their home field Friday in the Big Sky Conference soccer tournament semifinal round at South Campus Stadium.

Scoreless after regulation and two overtime periods, the Hornets prevailed 4-3 in penalty kicks to seal the win and earn their ticket to Sunday’s championship game against Idaho. The Vandals topped Portland State 2-1 in the first semifinal Friday.

Montana’s Bayliss Flynn, the newly crowned Big Sky goalkeeper of the year, was solid for Montana with five total saves — four in the first half — as the Hornets poured on the pressure early, while the Grizzlies found a few openings but were off the mark.

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Montana ramped up the offensive chances in the second half, including a free kick from Ally Henrikson that was centimeters from going in but hit the top crossbar just enough to bounce out before defenders cleared the ball.

From there, the teams traded chances but no one could score, so it all came down to penalty kicks.

Montana’s Maddie Ditta and Charley Boone started things off strong with conversions for the Grizzlies, and UM took a 2-1 lead after Sac State’s Madelyn Dougherty hit the crossbar.

Then, fresh off the sidelines as a new goalkeeper after not having played all game, Sierra Sonko saved an attempt from UM’s Bella O’Brien and Erika Tilford tied it up at 2-2 for the Hornets.

Sonko saved the next attempt again, this one from Hayley Bass, and Ariana Scholten gave the Hornets the lead.

After Montana’s Chloe Seelhoff made it 3-3, Sydney Sharts stepped up to the ball with a chance to seal the win for the Hornets, and she did just that as she got it past Flynn in the bottom left corner, which sent Sac State’s team into jubilation as they completed the upset of the hosting Grizzlies.

Izzy Palmatier finished with seven saves for the Hornets in 110 minutes between regulation and overtime. The Hornets put up 15 shots, five on goal, while UM mustered 16 shots with seven on goal.

The Grizzlies, who won the regular-season Big Sky title for the second consecutive year, saw their season come to a close with a 12-2-5 record. Friday’s loss snapped a 15-match home unbeaten streak for Montana.

Idaho and Sac State will play at 1 p.m. on Sunday at South Campus Stadium with the winner earning a bid to this year’s NCAA tournament.