Facing a shorthanded deficit against the only team in the conference to deliver a loss in the regular, Utah State women’s soccer only got stronger through 110 minutes of Pac-12 tournament soccer.
Maybe it was the Aggies’ No. 20 national ranking.
Maybe it was hosting at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field, and the presence of “the Hurd” student section behind the goal
Maybe it was … Ivy Nystrom?
Nystrom made one save in 110 minutes and stopped a penalty in a shootout, and Victoria Espinoza converted the winning pen to help No. 20 Utah State past Gonzaga, 6-5 on penalties in a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal Wednesday night in Logan, Utah.
Nystrom also converted a penalty for the Aggies (13-3-4), along with Kei Yoneda, Kya Newton, Summer Diamond and Rachel Reitz in holding off the Bulldogs after 110 scoreless minutes of soccer.
“To get a red card and play so much of the game a player down, and be the team on the front foot creating chances is very valuable,” Utah State coach Manny Martins said postgame on the Pac-12 YouTube channel. “It puts us in a place where we have a lot of belief and trust in our preparation.
“We knew Ivy was going to at least stop one,” he added. “And that’s all we needed.”
The Aggies out-shot Gonzaga 27-9 through 110 minutes of regulation and extra time, holding the Bulldogs to a single shot on frame.
The Aggies nearly broke through in the 80th minute, but a near-goal was called back on a foul — and then 40-game starting defender Kaeda Wilson was sent off with a red card for a serious foul in Gonzaga’s penalty box.
That helped the Bulldogs to extra time, where Ivy Nystrom earned her first save of the match in extra time with a palm on Amelia Severn’s shot toward the left side of the net in the 105th minute.
Moments later, Mia Lopez’s shot caromed off the underside of the crossbar to nearly give Utah State the golden-goal matchwinner.
Instead, the spot in the Pac-12 tournament final opposite Boise State went to penalty kicks as Gonzaga goalkeeper Sydney Head stood strong with seven saves.
Amelia Severn, Sofia Fox, Olivia Lester, Kelli Chapple and Head each converted from the spot for Gonzaga before Nystrom saved Shila Rasoul’s take in the bottom-left corner during the sudden-death portion of the shootout.
Utah State cruised to a 13-3-3 record that included a 6-1-1 mark in their first season in the Pac-12, a fourth consecutive league championship, and the program’s first regular-season title since winning their fourth WAC championship in 2012.
That, and the top RPI in the conference gave the Aggies hosting rights to the inaugural Pac-12 tournament and the No. 1 overall seed in the four-team field.
But across the touchline in the semifinal stood Gonzaga, which handed Utah State its only loss in conference play Oct. 25 in Spokane.
The return trip to Logan fell the Aggies’ way — albeit in a shootout. And now, Utah State and Boise State will face off in a rematch of last year’s Mountain West tournament championship match Saturday night.
Utah Tech falls on penalties in Big Sky Tournament debut
Utah Tech rallied from a 2-0 first-half deficit before falling on penalties to Idaho in the Trailblazers’ Big Sky tournament debut Wednesday in Missoula, Montana.
Idaho’s Mia Boltz scored and assisted on goals just over a minute apart, but Lataya Brost pulled one back in the 31st minute to spark the rally.
Brost then converted a penalty kick in the 79th minute to force extra time and eventually penalty kicks.
Jocelyn Wright and Ella Rusick both converted from the spot for the Trailblazers.
Idaho advanced to face top-seeded Weber State in Friday’s tournament semifinals. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
