It was a wild night in Logan for the inaugural Pac-12 Women's Soccer Championship semifinals, as No. 20 Utah State narrowly defeated Gonzaga on penalties (6-5) after a 0-0 draw. The Aggies will host second seed Boise State in Saturday's final, after the Broncos dispatched San Diego State earlier in the afternoon, 2-0 behind second half goals from Cindy Conner and Madie Donovan.
(1) Utah State 0, (4) Gonzaga 0 (Utah State wins 6-5 on penalties)
The Aggies and Bulldogs battled through a scoreless 110 minutes of play through overtime, which set the stage for a thrilling finish in front of 1,216 at Chick and Gloria Bell Soccer Field on Wednesday night. Both sides saw their first five penalty takers successfully finish from the spot, sending things to sudden death. The Aggies forced sudden death when GK Ivy Nystrom scored off the crossbar. After the sixth takers were both unsuccessful (a Nystrom save and a shot off the post), Gonzaga missed, and Utah State's Victoria Espinoza buried the final kick to send the Aggies to the final.
(2) Boise State 2, (3) San Diego State 0
Conner opened the scoring for the Broncos in the 49th minute, taking a delivery from Mia Lane. Connor got into the penalty area, as she beat her defender and then finished coolly past the Aztec goalkeeper to the near post from close range. The lead was doubled just 12 minutes later when Donovan headed home Boise State's second off a corner delivery from Jillian Anderson in the 61st. Boise State goalkeeper Ava de Leest recorded her 12th shutout of the season, recording nine saves in the win.
The Aggies will host the Broncos in the Pac-12 Championship final on Saturday from Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field at 5:30 p.m. MT, and the match can be seen live on the
Pac-12's YouTube channel as Utah State and Boise State fight for the league's crown and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Utah State knocked off Boise State 1-0 in Boise back on Oct. 11 behind Rachel Reitz's 24th-minute goal from the penalty spot. That win gave the Aggies the top seed in the Championship, as both teams shared the regular season title.