MISSOULA, Mont. (November 6, 2024) – Northern Arizona soccer's (4-7-6, 4-3-1 Big Sky) 2024 campaign came to an end on Wednesday, dropping in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament to the Sacramento State Hornets in a penalty kick shootout, after ending regulation and both 10-minute overtime periods in a 2-2 draw.
The Jacks struck first as senior
Kayla Shebar checked in to the match in the 26
th minute of play before going on to score NAU's first goal of the game in the 31
st minute.
Valentina Navetta connected with Shebar inside the box between defenders, tabbing her third assist of the season.
Just moments ahead of halftime, the Hornets found the equalizer from Lexi Schroeder who challenged NAU's defense inside the box, sneaking past
Trinity Corcoran to tie things up at 1-1 following the first frame of action. Each squad put up five shots through the first half, while both took two corner kick opportunities.
Sacramento State headed into the second half with some momentum, wasting no time for the lead as Teysha-Rey Spinney-Kuahuia gave the Hornets the advantage in the 51
st minute and Tierra Pickell and Ellie Farber found her for her second goal of the season.
The Lumberjacks tied things back up in the 67
th minute as
Deniah Wells was fouled inside the box, setting
Micala Boex up for the penalty kick opportunity. Boex capitalized and evened the score back up at 2-2.
Two ten-minute overtime periods would prove to not be enough to settle the score, sending the match to penalty kicks in Missoula. NAU's
Fallon Anderson and
Joey Lujan went two-for-two to start the shootout followed by another make from Wells, while Corcoran made the stop on Sacramento State's third shot before the Hornets true freshman goalkeeper Sierra Sonko stepped up for two saves to advance to the semifinals.
The Hornets will now move on to Big Sky semifinals for a Friday afternoon matchup with the No. 1 seed Montana Griz.
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