Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Portland State
Wildcats top Vikings, advance to Big Sky final
11/5/2011 3:12:00 AM | Women's Soccer
GREELEY, Colo. - For 90 minutes, the Wildcats fought.
When that wasn't enough, they battled for another 20.
Digging deep against a formidable foe, the Weber State University women's soccer team punched its ticket to the 2011 Big Sky Conference championship match, advancing past Portland State with a pulse-pounding victory on penalty kicks at Jackson Stadium.
With the play on the field ending in a 0-0 draw, the Wildcats edged the Vikings 4-3 on kicks, with sophomore midfielder Alyssa Amano nailing the decisive shot as WSU's seventh shooter.
The result earns Weber State (6-10-2) the right face Montana, which upset top seed and host Northern Colorado on penalties, in Sunday's 1 p.m. title match with a berth in the NCAA Women's College Cup on the line.
"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.
"(Sophomore 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."
Waldman made a career high-tying 12 saves in the match, but nothing was more critical than two stops the Milton, Wash.-native made in the kicks from the spot.
"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. PKs were definitely stressful, but you just go into them knowing that the only thing that you can do is what you can do."
With the Wildcats trailing 3-2 and Portland State at the spot, Waldman made her first save to keep WSU in it, and then on the seventh shooter, Waldman blocked Toni Carnovale's attempt to set the stage for Amano's game-winner.
"I kind of just told myself I had to do it," Waldman said. "When I made the first one, I just reacted and I got it. And then we missed the kick and it went over. And in my head I was like, "I have to save this because there is going to be so much pressure on the next shooter," so I was like, "I have to make this save, there's no if, and, or but about it. Then I came up with the save, so it was really great."
Amano's shot to the low-left corner of the goal easily beat the Vikings' goalkeeper and send the Wildcats storming onto the field in celebration.
"Congratulations to Portland State; they played a good game, and that's a very difficult way to go out," Weber State coach Tim Crompton said. "Ryann came up big and made some good saves. 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.
"We were prepared for seven kickers; we had prepared those players to take them. We will enjoy this for tonight and get back to work at practice tomorrow."
Portland State outshot Weber State 22-8 through the 110 minutes of play on the field, but the Wildcats didn't allow much inside of their 18 as the Vikings took multiple attempts from distance.
Weber State was able to get in behind the Portland State defense several times in the second half, but remained one pass away from turning those into dangerous opportunities.
"I'm way excited; it feels really good to get a chance to play in the championship," Amano said. "I feel like - I know - we have the potential to go far. We just need to play together as a team and try to control the field.
"Our defense has done a really good job this season. Tim has always stressed our defense. We just need to come out stronger than the other team and if we do that, I feel like we have a really good shot."
This will be the seventh Big Sky Conference championship match for Weber State, which captured league titles in 1998, 2004 and 2005. It will be the fourth title match featuring the Wildcats and Grizzlies, the two winningest teams in Big Sky history.
